In Costa Rica, medical cannabis products can now be prescribed by physicians and dispensed to patients at designated pharmacies.
Following the government’s decision to start implementing a framework in early 2022 and over three years of regulatory hurdles to overcome, the nation’s rollout officially started on Jun. 21.
“As of today, medical cannabis is officially recognized as a therapeutic tool in the hands of physicians to treat patients,” said Dr. Carlos Hernández Cuevas, a local medical cannabis physician and advocate based in the capital, San Jose.
He added that the road to this milestone was a long one paved with numerous challenges.
“This is for every time I had to hide to treat my patients with this plant. For every time I was forced to deny someone medicine because it was considered ‘illegal.’ For all the times I promised them, ‘One day, it will be possible.’ For all the people made invisible by the system who now have a new path to relief. For every time I was looked down upon.”
His enthusiasm is shared by former Costa Rican congresswoman Law on Cannabis for Medicinal and Therapeutic Use and Hemp for Food and Industrial Use bill in 2019. It became the inspiration for the government’s decision to legalize medical pot three years ago.
Her advocacy at the time focused on the plant’s health benefits for citizens with severe medical conditions and the positive economic impact that prescription weed could have on the nation.
She said the legislation coming into effect marked a significant advance in access to complementary medical treatments and in the opening of new opportunities for the productive and sustainable development of the country.
Costa Rica issued its first medical marijuana cultivation and processing license to the local company Azul Wellness S.A. in 2023.
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