Reputation, revenue at stake as Brazil weighs legalization of cannabis cultivation
The co-sponsors of the bill have been adamant that main driver for the bill is not the economy, but rather increased access to cannabis for patients who need it
Friday, September 18, 2020
Brazil has fast-tracked a draft law that would legalize the cultivation of medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp. South America’s largest economy leads the world in several commodities markets, and some politicians say its farmers are keen to expand into hemp. The endeavor to revise Brazil’s cannabis laws began in 2015 with a proposed law that focused on the commercialization of cannabis-based drugs. Last month, Deputy Paulo Teixeira submitted a new version of the bill to the head of the lower chamber. The replacement text expands the so-called legislative project by proposing that the cultivation, processing, research, storage, transportation, production, industrialization, commercialization, import and export of medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp be allowed in Brazil.
