Argentina’s Supreme Court rules you can grow your own medical marijuana at home

After many years of waiting endlessly for the government to approve home-grown medical cannabis, Argentines can finally grow their own therapeutic cannabis at home. The recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of home growing has been a long time coming.

The country legalized cannabis for legal use in 2017. For a long time the law remained unchanged, without changes. It was nothing more than a symbolic glow with inactive rules and regulations. The call to grow cannabis at home was launched by President Alberto Fernandez in late 2020. He also signed a decree allowing pharmacies to dispense medical cannabis medication. However, none of these decrees could move forward for the same reason that the medicinal cannabis program stagnated. These laws and policies all relied on the establishment of a regulatory body that approves licenses and sets rules and regulations.

Best news for medical cannabis patients in Argentina

Argentina’s highest court ruled that parents of sick children should be allowed to grow cannabis to treat their children.

Argentina’s Supreme Court has ruled that parents of sick children can grow their cannabis to treat their children, a decision that is sure to have global ramifications. They concluded that this decision is consistent with the decriminalization of cannabis use for medicinal purposes under current Argentine legislation.

This breakthrough is comparable in importance to a 2014 Israeli case in which family law and cannabis legalization overlapped. In particular, families with sick children who needed medicinal cannabis threatened to go to Colorado if they weren’t allowed to legally buy it domestically. The administration changed the statute within a few weeks.

However, last week’s result in Argentina wasn’t entirely in favor of all who pushed their case. The court also ruled unanimously that the current special patient registry is not unconstitutional. Mamás Cannabis Medicinal (Macrame), representing the plaintiff, raised those concerns. The state has the right to police and monitor all cannabis cultivation, including cultivation for medicinal purposes, the court reasoned.

In this ruling, the Argentine court appears to be adopting a global trend that is spreading from Asia to regions as diverse as Latin America and Europe. Today, countries like Malta, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, and Thailand also have laws allowing home cultivation of cannabis. The international normalization discussion, which appears to be ongoing both legally and politically, has made home cultivation for recreational and medicinal purposes all the rage.

Argentina’s decision has significant domestic political implications. Timing is critical, however, as country after country begins to implement, or at least discuss, expansion of home growth more broadly.

Why countries are introducing home growing laws

This sudden emergence of home-grown cannabis laws in different countries can be attributed to a variety of reasons.

The main reason is that the government has started to see why the drug is needed to treat a range of medical conditions. The international health system is still suffering from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several unresolved crises in the system today because hospitals have not yet returned to their pre-pandemic phase. Not to mention the overwhelming number of individuals who choose to enroll in medicinal cannabis programs not because of an illness but because of the unavailability of recreational reforms.

In other words, it’s becoming increasingly clear that home growing isn’t a treacherous attempt to undermine a regulated industry. Growing cannabis at home is a very logical step towards a regulated market if pursued.

In countries like Germany, which are now on the cusp of legalizing recreational use, patients suffer most from a delay in full legalization. Around 200,000 criminal proceedings for illegal possession, cultivation and use are pending in the German courts alone. The state can quickly eliminate this enormous waste of time and resources. Complaint case law is beginning to move in this direction. However, courts are increasingly recognizing that insurers also force eligible patients to file lawsuits in order to obtain coverage. In the meantime, they must gather their supplies and take risks.

Everywhere at the moment, arresting sick people is not looking good. In reality, no matter how you look at it, making it easier for the chronically ill to more or less self-medicate at a time when healthcare facilities are struggling to provide “normal” care just makes sense. Wo, respectively Ukraine serves as a strong example. In addition, however, chronic care – even with typical cannabis-treated diseases – is a problem in all western countries.

Adding to these facts, of course, such legal and policy decisions are being made at a time when states are being forced to consider how to enforce laws, if not the rules themselves, and for causes and issues other than cannabis reform.

Improving the legal market

If you look at the Canadian model, you would see that patients are a competitor to the industry. Although this legislation will not immediately improve the legal market, it would more or less stimulate it.

In a few years, Argentina’s economy would benefit from revenues from the medical cannabis industry. Growing cannabis takes time, energy and expertise; therefore, not all patients would be able to achieve home grown plants. Some would prefer to purchase their cannabis-infused medications the same way they obtain regular edibles, medications, and other products. Not to mention that over time, patients would look for more effective or potent cannabis-infused products for their ailments, as their home-grown plants may not be as potent as those sold on the regulated market.

This would lead to the creation of more jobs and better facilities.

bottom line

Argentina’s Supreme Court has made the right decision that would benefit thousands of Argentines in the long run. With this legislation, a middle course would be created in no time at all, which would allow both sides to thrive. As you know, the legalization of recreational cannabis is inevitable, especially given recent discoveries about the drug’s medicinal capabilities. Until that reform is in place, however, laws like this will help reduce the stigma and demonization of cannabis use.

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