An Initiative in Chile Aims to Plant 10,000 Seeds Monthly for Medicinal Purposes

Even before Uruguay approved the legalisation of cannabis, Chile became a pioneering country in the use of cannabis with therapeutic aims: an extensive amount of land is used for the cultivation of marijuana for the purpose of producing medicine that improves the quality of life for the more than 4,000 Chileans suffering cancer, refractory epilepsy or multiple sclerosis.

This cultivation is a project promoted by the Daya Foundation, dedicated to research in and the promotion and implementation of therapies designed to alleviate human suffering through medical cannabis.

Campaña #PonteEnMisZapatos pide a la presidenta de Chile que despenalize la #marihuana #medicinal - ... pic.twitter.com/bvTQ7woCTE

— GrowLandia (@GrowLandiaOFI) Mayo 28, 2015

Now Ana María Gazmui - actress, therapist and director of the Daya Foundation - wants to replicate this project by adding another 20 towns, and another 19 that are interested, which have agreed to pay some 35 million pesos (almost 50,000 euros) to ensure that 200 patients from those towns receive the medical cannabis treatment they need through the planting of 10,000 marijuana seeds.

“We are creating these projects to pave the way for the low-cost production of medicinal cannabis at the national level,” explained Gazmuri. If the Agriculture and Livestock Service approves the initiative, the Institute of Public Health should issue its approval of the consumption of cannabis for medicinal aims. Then it will ultimately be doctors in the towns that prescribe the necessary doses every 15 days.

Another one of the Daya Foundation’s objectives is increasing social awareness: one of its latest campaigns is #PonteEnMisZapatos [In English: Put Yourself in My Shoes], through which they aim to present the benefits of marijuana therapies formany families whose children suffer from refractory epilepsy. A few months ago they delivered a letter to the president, Michele Bachelet, in which they urged her to put herself in the shoes of those who need medical cannabis.