Brazilian pharmaceutical regulator Anvisa on Tuesday approved regulations for the roll-out of medicinal cannabis-based products but in a separate vote blocked a proposal to allow domestic medical marijuana plantations.
Anvisa’s approval of rules to regulate the nascent medical marijuana market represents a major shift in a country that has suffered years of deadly drug violence.
Nonetheless, the decision to prohibit domestic plantations shows that Brazil, led by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, is not yet willing to join peers Colombia and Uruguay and develop its own vertically integrated medical marijuana sector.
A spokesman for Anvisa said that Brazilian firms interested in manufacturing cannabis-based products would need to import inputs from aboard.
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