Why did the President of Costa Rica block the Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp Law?

Costa Ricans will have to wait a few more months for medical cannabis reform, thanks to President Carlos Alvarado.

Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado has vetoed the passage of a bill legalizing medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp. The country’s top citizen claims that the bill’s provisions relating to consumption and personal use undermine the bill’s main aim.

In many developed countries around the world, cannabis laws have either been reformed or are in the process of being reformed. This is quite an achievement considering that the drug was completely banned for medical use some ten to twenty years ago. Medicinal cannabis has been described as an effective panacea for several medical conditions, although most of the information available is anecdotal.

The western hemisphere has embraced medicinal cannabis reform much faster than the eastern hemisphere. Countries like Germany and Canada are at the forefront of this medical revolution and have even more plans to adopt other progressive policies to increase sales and increase availability inside and outside their borders.

On the other hand, countries like Costa Rica are being withdrawn because key politicians exercise their power by vetoing. This development is not out of place, since not all countries in a region can be on the right side of history with such reforms.

A temporary delay

With his veto power, President Alvarado, who has only been in office for a few months, has temporarily halted the progress of the proposed medical cannabis policy. Unfortunately for the pro-cannabis groups, lawmakers would not be able to act until the general election, scheduled for this month, is complete. approved in October. vetoed Costas

The Rican legislature (both chambers) approved the Medicinal Cannabis Act in February 2021, after which it was sent to the President’s desk to be enacted. Rather than include his signature, the President of the Central American country partially vetoed the bill.

According to Wikipedia, a partial veto, also known as a line item veto, is a veto power that gives a key government official the power to overrule some provisions in a bill without throwing out the entire bill. In the case of Costa Rica, the provisions remain for personal use and consumption. The President says he is satisfied with the other provisions enacted by the legislature.

The fact remains that the form of the veto, whether partial veto or full veto, does not matter, as the bill will not be adopted until all provisions are accepted. Simply put, a partial ban retains the same effect as a full veto and nothing is enforced.

Alvarado explained that his main reason for doing so was the technical inconsistencies in the bill. The Tico Times news agency reported the president’s official statement, in which he highlighted his support for medical cannabis reforms and his desire to sign the law. However, the President wrote that the provisions on personal use and consumption in the measure would have an adverse effect on public health and safety in the long term.

President Alvarado emphasized that he supports medicinal cannabis and believes in its potential to alleviate the suffering of Costa Ricans with chronic diseases. He even mentioned that he had close relatives and associates who needed the drugs. He wrote that he supports industrial hemp production, calling it a booster for agricultural production and economic growth. His rejection of the consumption and personal use regulations is the only reason why medical cannabis and industrial hemp are still banned in Costa Rica to this day.

No surprise

Many lawmakers say they expected Alvarado to use his veto power to defeat the medical cannabis law. From the start, the President has been very vocal about some details of the measure.

The president’s partial veto and his request to change some parts of the bill come at a time when lawmakers would not be able to consider the bill immediately. Some cannabis advocates claim that this is no coincidence. The President continues to state that he agrees with the goals that would be achieved by the law and that he would like the law to be enacted before he leaves office in May.

The bishop of Costa Rica also agreed with the president’s view on the self-consumption and home-growing provisions in the bill. The bishop wrote a day before the president announced his partial veto that the proposed law contained so many inconsistencies that it could jeopardize the bill’s legitimate goals. The bishop said there was no guarantee that cannabis plants could help boost the economies of rural areas, stressing that no measures had been taken to ensure smallholder farmers were getting enough benefit from growing the plant. The bishops also mentioned that continuously growing only cannabis plants on large acres could accelerate environmental degradation, not to mention that controlling illegal cannabis operations would be more of a challenge.

Next step from here

All indications are that lawmakers may not be working on this bill for the next month or so as everything is currently focused on the smooth running and counting of elections and votes. Whether the bill will be finalized before Alvarado’s term ends in May remains uncertain for the time being. Despite the fact that Quesada stated that he believes lawmakers will implement his proposed changes as soon as possible,

Once everything is back to normal after the elections, the veto law will be sent back to the chambers with the proposed amendments highlighted by the President. Legislators would review the changes and make some modifications. Then it would be sent back to the President’s desk.

bottom line

For a president who claims to be an avid supporter of medical cannabis reform in Costa Rica, Alvarado’s recent actions make very little sense. As President, he should do everything possible to ensure safe access to medicinal cannabis as much as possible, not limit it. It is also disappointing that the President had refused to propose these changes since October, when the Senate approved the bill. Hopefully lawmakers will revise the bill within weeks to give patients some much-needed relief.

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