According to information reported by Reuters, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (STJ), which serves as the supreme court of appeal for non-constitutional cases, “has agreed to rule on whether companies and farmers can plant Cannabis in the country, which could pave the way for legal cultivation for medical and industrial purposes, after legislative efforts have stalled in recent years.”
The case was brought by a biotechnology company called DNA Solucoes em Biotecnologia, which “advocates for the right to import seeds and plant cannabis with higher levels of cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD) and less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a mind-altering component of the plant,” according to Reuters.
Reuters reports that the appeals court’s decision “was made public on March 14 and established its jurisdiction for a national precedent regarding the importation of seeds and the planting of cannabis.”
This decision had immediate consequences.
“From now on, all pending cases regarding permission to plant Cannabis in the country will be frozen until the STJ makes a final and binding decision,” according to the outlet.
“Brazil allows the sale and production of cannabis products, but companies must import key ingredients. The court’s final ruling on cannabis, expected sometime next year, could make her a forerunner on a topic rejected by many conservative-leaning members of Brazil’s Congress, such as the ruling by the 2011 Supreme Court that paved the way for same-sex marriage. »
Last summer, the Superior Court of Justice ruled that Brazilian patients could grow their own cannabis for medical purposes.
In this decision, the five-judge panel ruled in favor of the three patients who had taken the case to court, allowing them to grow cannabis for medical treatment. The unanimous court decision allowed the three patients to grow cannabis and extract oil from it to ease their pain.
“The discourse against this possibility is moralizing. It often has a religious character, based on dogma, false truths, stigmas,” Judge Rogério Schietti said in his judgment. “Let’s stop this prejudice, this moralism that delays the development of this issue at the legislative level, and that often clouds the minds of Brazilian judges. »
Medical cannabis is legal in Brazil, although limited. The use of cannabis for recreational purposes is prohibited.
