The cultivation of Cannabis hemp ( cáñamo in Spanish) would help the economic reactivation, informed President Carlos Alvarado, who announced on Monday that he will be sending a bill to the Legislative Assembly this week.
The idea is that the incipient sector has all the guarantees and security of the case.
“We will promote the cultivation of hemp to reactivate the productive sector, with all the guarantees and security of the case. We will use all the prestige derived from the country, in life sciences and tourism, to take off again in all regions. The government’s economic team will present the details of these and other initiatives this week ”
This is one of the initiatives made in his speech to Legislators on Monday, that he will promote to revive the economy after the crisis caused by the national emergency of covid-19.
In the Legislative Assembly, there is already a bill, out forward by independent legislator Zoila Rosa Volio, which seeks to legalize the production of cannabis and hemp for medicinal purposes.
The initiative of the deputy Volio points out that hemp, the name by which one of the cannabis species is known, does not have psychoactive properties, since it is a variety that contains a low content of THC, one of the cannabinoid substances that works as a psychotropic.
Among the main uses that are given to non-psychoactive cannabis, indicates the proposal, is the production of medicines and cosmetics with the oil that is extracted from the plant. It also works for textile fibers, bio-construction materials and biofuels.
The plan argues that, in some countries like France, Canada and Sweden, there are specific industries dedicated to the production of hemp derivatives.
Other countries, such as Ecuador, recently announced that they will boost the production of this plant to reactivate its economy in the face of the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic.
For the implementation of this crop, which has a denser stem than that of marijuana, a series of regulations must be approved and reformed that regulate crops, production and marketing of hemp.
Volio: ‘It will generate a lot of employment’
“I think it is a project that is going to generate a lot of employment and I think it is what we need that to reactivate the economy,” said legislator Zoila Rosa Volio about her proposal.
Enrique Sánchez, head of the ruling party, the PAC, said that his caucus is in favor of this bill and is working on a text together with different deputies, including legislator Volio, among whom he said there was a consensus.
According to Sánchez, the substitute text seeks “to guarantee that the employment and wealth generated by this new industry is distributed wealth that is not concentrated and that there is no risk that it will generate some monopolies.”
“From the announcement made today by the president about hemp production, effectively, as one of the actions to stimulate post-pandemic production, we are going to wait for the details of the proposal of the Executive (Government) to make compatible the initiatives that arise and finally be able to specify a law in this regard,” she added.
The bill (file N ° 21,315) is called the ” Ley De Producción De Cannabis Y Cáñamo Para Fines Medicinales” (Cannabis And Hemp Production Law for Medicinal Purposes) and seeks to industrialize the products that result from the cultivation of hemp and, in the case of cannabis, would allow its medicinal use.
The plan aims to “generate a pharmaceutical industry around the products that result from the cultivation of cannabis and hemp, which have already been accepted worldwide.”
According to the Volio bill, the medicinal use and production of cannabis and hemp is legal in more than 21 countries, which means a global market of more than 1 billion people, in which around 60% of the market is in countries where the medicinal use of plants is legally permitted.
For this, the Ministry of Health will be in charge in matters of medicinal production of cannabis and hemp, which has legal powers to regulate and verify compliance.
Likewise, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) would be responsible for sowing, importing seeds and regulations for the industrial phase of the products.
