Mexico Medical Marijuana Program

Attorneys encourage marijuana and hemp firms interested in taking part in Mexico's upcoming medical cannabis programme to start planning now, stressing that doing so will offer enterprises a head start when it comes to entering the country's adult-use market once it opens. The Mexican government has started establishing a legal framework for medicinal cannabis in the nation, enabling businesses to start applying for research licences to market their products.

Mexico's Medical Marijuana Program

The action is being taken as the nation works to legalise hemp and marijuana for adult usage. Following local trends, lawyers predict that businesses entering the medicinal marijuana market today will be well-positioned to debut rapidly in the recreational programme, noting that this has been the case in some Canadian and U.S. markets.

According to Roberto Ibarra Lopez, a lawyer with Lawgic in Guadalajara, Mexico, "that's the starting point for any person or corporation that wants to go into the cannabis market in Mexico." The Mexican Supreme Court declared the plant's prohibition to be unconstitutional and gave the country's congress until April 30 to legalise cannabis for all uses.

The legalisation attempt has already been postponed numerous times, but on January 12 when federal officials published regulations for carrying out the bill, a way for conducting business on the medical side began emerging. It has been feasible to apply for cultivation permits for medical cannabis in Mexico for some time, but nothing has been possible. This is due to the fact that even though Mexico legalised cannabis for medical purposes in 2017, the federal government did not issue laws until three years later. Although they are still being adjusted, lawyers anticipate that by June, the federal government will begin giving licences.

However, it will take some time before things are available.

Before being sold, cannabis products, including hemp with up to 1% THC, must pass clinical trials. Industrial-scale cultivation of cannabis is only permitted to supply the medical market. Only pharmaceutical businesses are allowed to import cannabis, and imports are restricted to finished goods. Anywhere in Mexico is eligible to apply for a cultivation licence, however these permits must be used in the state specified on the application, which necessitates providing evidence of the land's ownership. The world of possibilities is wide open, Lopez remarked. Foreign investment caps are present in the congressional proposal, but not in the medical rules. The standards for growing and tracing, as well as the registration and import of seeds, will be managed by the department of agriculture and a few other organisations.

The Mexican Food and Drug Administration, which is modelled after the FDA in the United States, is in charge of labelling and prescriptions and will supervise medical professionals and clinical research. The only advertising that is permitted is between drug firms and the physicians who recommend cannabis. The guidelines don't go into great depth about manufacturers or processors, and even while hemp manufacturing is legal, there are no regulations overseeing it. "You are entitled. The issue is that since it is not regulated, you are unable to exercise that right, according to Adrián Cisneros Aguilar, the head cannabis attorney for Harris Bricken in Mexico. Instead of being included in the proposed cannabis legalisation bill, supporters of industrial hemp seek for stand-alone laws for the plant in the upcoming months. This week, Congress resumed its work on that proposal. Despite the ongoing delays, lawyers are optimistic that lawmakers will eventually legalise all cannabis-related activities this year. By 2023, everything will be available, but you won't be able to submit applications for all of them at once. The market will be entirely legal, according to Aguilar.