Medical Cannabis to Be Available at Chilean Pharmacies in Just Three Months

This has been a year of great change for Chile, which is gradually moving towards a very positive and necessary state of affairs for patients requiring medical marijuana. Along with Uruguay and the United States, the Latin American country is becoming a leader in the Americas, thanks to associations and users who have been struggling for years to make this shift possible.

According to the Chilean Health Ministry, cannabis will hit pharmacies nationwide just three months from now. It will do so in the form of medicines and other products based on the plant, like extracts and resins. Undersecretary of Public Health Jaime Burrows does not believe that there will be massive purchasing, due to its price, "but at least those with prescriptions, and who want to use it, will have that option."

The Institute of Public Health will be able to authorise and control the consumption of the plant, its dyes and by-products for the creation of pharmaceutical products. This also means that cannabis no longer found on the same list as narcotics and hard drugs (which meant 5-10 year prison sentences for possession). The president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, signed a decree firmly enacting the decision.

This is a move that comes after years of a legal limbo for those patients who could not buy grass or products with THC to relieve their pain, and were forced, in many cases, to grow their own plants, or acquire them from other sources. Advocates for the decriminalisation of cannabis believe that the new situation in the country will lead to even better decisions in the not-too-distant future.