Judge allows NGO to grow cannabis for medicinal products

A federal judge in the northeastern state of Sergipe on Wednesday authorized an NGO to grow cannabis and manufacture medicinal products for its associates. Although similar authorizations have been granted in Brazil for producing cannabis oil, this is the first time such approval has included the plant’s flowers, extracts, and edible products.

In late 2019, Brazil’s federal health regulator Anvisa authorized the sale of cannabis-based medicinal products in drugstores but, in a separate vote, banned the cultivation of the plant. This meant that the products would have to be either imported or made in Brazil with imported ingredients. Since then, the agency has approved 25 different cannabis medicinal products for sale and use with a medical prescription.

In December 2022, Anvisa authorized for the first time the cultivation of cannabis for research purposes, at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN).

Lawyer Paulo Henrique Thiessen, who represents the NGO Salvar, celebrated the decision as “wonderful news.” In a video posted on Instagram, recorded near a cannabis crop, he said the judge’s decision granted his petition by authorizing the use of a series of products, a first in Brazil.  This will allow doctors to prescribe a “range of treatments,” Mr. Thiessen said.

Other NGOs have received judicial authorization to grow the plant for its oil only. The press office of the Federal Court of Sergipe told The Brazilian Report that the case is under judicial secrecy and the text of the decision will not be made public.

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