Canada joins the group of countries that have regularized the use of marijuana, which is led by countries in Latin America

On Tuesday, March 18, the Canadian Senate approved the legalization of marijuana for sale and regulation by the Canadian authorities. This is one of the most anticipated victories of the government of Justin Trudeau since it was one of his slogans during his presidential campaign. As reported by Canadian newspaper Vancouver Sun, the Canadian Senate approved the legalization with 52 votes in favor, 29 against and two abstentions.

Leer en español: Estos son los países que han legalizado el uso de la marihuana

After his victory, Liberal President Trudeau held the votes of the parliament and said it is a great step to end the illegal trade in marijuana, in addition to preventing that the product is altered with other chemicals and prevent it from being in the hands of Canadian minors. According to the newspaper El País, Trudeau said that organized crime will decrease and the networks that feed drug trafficking and crime will descend, given that by legalizing marijuana, the price of this product will fall considerably.

This new law of legalization of marijuana for recreational use establishes the minimum ages for purchase, the companies that can distribute this psychotropic, the legal possession in grams of marijuana and home craft production. However, this law will vary according to each province of the North American country.

How is Latin America with regard to the issue of the marijuana?

Under the government of former President José Mujica, in Uruguay, the Law 19,172, also known as the Law on Marijuana and its derivatives, was approved in 2015, a law that was launched in 2017. After a year of legal distribution, there are only three ways to purchase it or sale it: domestic crops, sale in pharmacies and grower clubs. As El Diario of España reports, this legal laboratory against marijuana has been a success. This is because the pharmacies authorized for sale expect huge queues of customers almost every day, young people went from buying a product of poor quality full of pesticides to a product of high quality almost natural.

You can also read: Marijuana grows in Latin America?

The price of this drug dropped considerably from costing 100 dollars for 25 grams in the streets to 30 dollars in the pharmacies, according to the media Ciento Ochenta of Uruguay. Also, according to El Clarín, some Uruguayan psychologists have argued that the legalization of marijuana and its regularization by the Ministry of Health have led to lower anxiety rates of its consumers for they know that the product is within reach, it has a reasonable price and is as natural as possible.

For its part, Brazil authorized the sale of a Cannabis-based product to treat chronic diseases and diseases related to muscle stiffness in 2017. This medicine is registered as a medicinal plant in the Complete List of Brazilian Common Denominations (DCB). Along with this country is Paraguay, which in January 2018 authorized through the law 6007 the use of cannabis in research and scientific tests to treat terminal diseases.

In addition, according to El País, in January 2018 the government of Peru also regulated the use of medical marijuana to treat severe diseases such as Parkinson's, cancer and epilepsy. This through the law 886 of 2016 that regulates the medicinal and therapeutic use of cannabis. Also, Colombia regulated in 2017 the use of cannabis in scientific research for the relief of chronic pain-causing diseases, according to the law 1787 of 2016 on the therapeutic use of marijuana.

Is Canada an opportunity to visualize the positive effects of Marijuana?

Now, Canada, having one of the highest levels of life and being one of the safest countries in the world will surely give lectures about the benefits of the legalization of this psychotropic. In addition, Canada, being one of the countries belonging to the G-20, can become a fundamental exponent for the legalization of marijuana in the countries of the northern hemisphere, given that, although Latin America is a pioneer in the issue, its high levels of drug use and difficult socio-political situations hinder their credibility on the subject.

Latin American Post | Miguel Díaz

Copy edited by Diana Rojas