T<\/span>he first of the three scheduled debates on a medical marijuana measure opened in Panama\u2019s unicameral National Assembly last week.<\/p>\n The medical marijuana measure, named Law 595, would \u201cauthorize and regulate the medicinal use of cannabis,\u201d the legislative body said in a\u00a0tweet<\/a>.<\/p>\n The bill is the project of Jos\u00e9 Castillo, president of the assembly\u2019s Health Commission, who first\u00a0introduced it<\/a>\u00a0in November. He said the measure is aimed at helping the seriously ill, so \u201cthey don\u2019t feel like\u00a0contrabandistas\u201d\u00a0<\/i>when they access their medicine.<\/p>\n Castillo said that private companies would play a role in the program, \u201cif they provide employment and development, pay taxes.\u201d But he was clear the such businesses would be restricted to importing and distribution \u2014 not production or cultivating.\u00a0\u201cThis project will de-penalize the introduction of medications into the country,\u201d Castillo said, according to the Spanish news agency\u00a0EFE<\/a>.<\/p>\n Under the proposed law, consumers will be limited to \u201cliquid marijuana,\u201d or cannabis oils, tinctures or extracts that can be administered orally. Castillo also insisted that there will be no discussion of a general legalization of cannabis, such as now seen in\u00a0Uruguay<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a doctor, and I am conscious of the benefits of this type of substances in certain illnesses,\u201d he said in\u00a0La Estrella de Panam\u00e1<\/a>. \u201cThese laws are functioning well in other countries. We don\u2019t want to legalize marijuana for recreational use, but only and exclusively for medicinal and therapeutic use, in its liquid form.\u201d<\/p>\n He stressed that the liquid form is not addictive (a problematic statement, as it\u00a0falsely implies the herbaceous form can be<\/a>), and that it is highly effective for \u201cinfants with epilepsy<\/a> problems, cancer<\/a> sufferers and certain forms of chronic pain.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawmakers heard testimony from patients who use medicinal cannabis, as well as from leaders in Panama\u2019s medical field, who said they did not oppose the measure, according to the\u00a0National Assembly website<\/a>. One woman who spoke in support of the proposal was Erika Nota, the mother of a young boy named Rocco who suffers from epilepsy.<\/p>\n However, the medical marijuana measure may also fall prey to partisan politics. It could prove an obstacle that Castillo is from the ruling\u00a0Partido Paname\u00f1ista<\/a>, which is none too popular right now. In early January,\u00a0thousands protested<\/a>\u00a0outside the mansion of President Juan Carlos Varela, demanding prison terms and (ominously) even a \u201cdeath sentence\u201d for corrupt officials. The protest came after the announcement that judicial authorities are investigating 63 officials over possible kickbacks from the\u00a0scandal-plagued<\/a>\u00a0Brazilian construction giant\u00a0Odebrecht<\/a>.<\/p>\n The conservative Partido Paname\u00f1ista party is generally opposed by more left-populist parties. Hopefully, these will not paradoxically adopt a more social-conservative posture on the cannabis question merely to oppose an initiative from the ruling party.<\/p>\n This caution in Panama is vividly contrasted by the\u00a0burgeoning cannabis industry<\/a>\u00a0in neighboring Colombia. There, foreign capital is pouring into the new cannabis sector, and licensed grow operations are proliferating. The medical marijuana program that has made this possible was also put into place by the otherwise conservative administration of President Juan Manuel Santos. In Colombia, the pragmatic conservative Santos and the left opposition came together in support of the initiative. We\u2019ll soon see if Panama will repeat this pattern.<\/p>\n TELL US,<\/b>\u00a0do you think Panama will legalize medical marijuana?<\/p>\n The post Panama Could Be the Next Latin American Country to Legalize Pot<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Panama\u2019s National Assembly is debating a measure to legalize medical marijuana, but in sharp contrast to neighboring Colombia, the program would fly pretty close to the ground. In a play to social conservatives, the law would only allow imports and users would be limited to extracts rather than herbaceous cannabis.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,216,80,90,3582],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24312"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24312"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24313,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24312\/revisions\/24313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Panama Could Be the Next Latin American Country to Legalize Pot<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"