Lawmakers in Brazil have approved a bill that will allow the use and cultivation of medicinal marijuana this week.
A key Senate committee in the country, the Senate’s Social Affairs Committee, has signed off on the legislation and now it needs the Commission on Constitution and Justice to pass it before the full Senate gets it.
The bill stemmed from a petition led by citizens that garnered around 119,000 votes. The measure would remove criminal penalties for growing, possessing, and consuming cannabis for medicinal marijuana patients.
Sen. Marta Suplicy (MDB-SP) said, “We cannot relegate the issue to mere political discussion. More than anything, we need to empathize and put ourselves in the place of the other. In this way we can, as legislators, defend the true essence of health care, which is to mitigate human suffering.”
Brazil’s president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro may be an obstacle for the bill as he has said he wants to enforce harsh anti-drug laws in the country.
