The President of the Republic of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, signed the Law on Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp on Wednesday morning, a day after the deputies approved it definitively, and after a first veto from the President who did not want self-cultivation of cannabis by patients.
Carlos Alvarado, however, was in favor of the principle of the bill, stating: “I want to say categorically that I support medical cannabis. I want to be able to sign this law. We resorted to a partial veto and recommended three changes to the text” which were enough to finally pass a restricted version of the first proposal.
The President pointed out that this bill represents very positive points for the country: “On the one hand, to relieve pain or provide treatment to people who need it, and to expand health options for people. That’s just one big goal, and this law fulfills it. »
“The other great achievement of this law is that hemp can be industrialized, an activity that could reinvigorate our agriculture, especially our rural areas, with a culture and a new industry that could be developed from it,” said he added.
The text must now be published in the Official Journal to come into force, nearly three years after the start of the process of the file in the Legislative Assembly and a first passage before Congress last October.
The law will allow Costa Rican authorities to grant licenses for the production of cannabis for medical purposes and hemp for industrial use.
