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Cannabis Investment Report | December 2017
for the issuance of separate licenses for cultivation and processing. It also contemplates that permits will
be available under Colombia’s export laws for the export of lawful cannabis products to jurisdictions
where importation is legal. Colombia issued the first processing license in 2016 and the first cultivation
license in 2017.
In 2017, Argentina enacted regulations permitting the use of cannabis oil and other derivatives
either by qualifying patients or for scientific and medical research. Under the new legislation, the gov-
ernment will oversee cultivation and production of cannabis and its derivatives for research purposes
and for patient consumption, establish a national registry of qualifying patients and make cannabis
products available to those patients, free of charge. The government expects to import cannabis sup-
plies until they can be produced domestically.
Other Latin American nations that have taken recent steps to increase medical cannabis access
include Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Peru. In 2015, Chile changed its laws to allow medical cannabis use
by patients and to authorize the sale of cannabis-based medicines through pharmacies. In 2016, Brazil
approved. a resolution authorizing the prescription and importation of cannabis products, including
THC and CBD, for use in treating certain qualifying medical conditions. In June 2017, Mexico
enacted a law directing its Ministry of Health to prepare regulations for the research, production and
medicinal use of “pharmacological derivatives” of cannabis. In November 2017, Peru adopted a bill
legalizing the production, commercialization and importation of cannabis oil to be used for medical
purposes.
In the Caribbean region, Puerto Rico, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica have taken measures to
decriminalize cannabis or increase access for medical use. In 2015, the governor of Puerto Rico signed
an executive order that legalized use of cannabis derivatives (but not cannabis flower) for medical
purposes. Jamaica passed a law in 2015 that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of cannabis,
permits an individual to cultivate no more than five cannabis plants, establishes a medical cannabis
regulatory agency and allows tourists with foreign medical cannabis prescriptions to purchase small
amounts of cannabis. A 2016 law enacted in the Cayman Islands legalized the use of cannabis extracts
for medical purposes and authorized the creation of import regulations and the sale through licensed
pharmacies.
Australia and New Zealand
Australia amended its Narcotic Drugs Act in 2016 to authorize a regulated medical cannabis industry
in the country. The amendment establishes licenses to cultivate cannabis, produce cannabis resin and
other products for medicinal purposes, manufacture medicinal cannabis products and conduct canna-
bis research. A license-holder is required to secure a permit that places conditions on the license and
identifies specific activities allowed within the scope of the license. Cannabis products for medicinal
use that are either legally manufactured in Australia or legally imported can be prescribed to qualify-
ing medical patients. The amendment defines medicinal cannabis products broadly as a product that
includes, or is produced from, any part of the cannabis plant and is intended for the purpose of “cur-
ing, or alleviating the symptoms of a disease, ailment or injury.”
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