Argentina’s emerging cannabis industry has evolved at a rapid pace compared to other markets in recent months. As we previously reported, back in April 2022 Argentina’s Ministry of Health issued new rules pertaining to medical cannabis, allowing non-profits to eventually obtain licenses.
Roughly a month later Argentina passed a measure that created a framework for a more robust medical cannabis industry in the South American nation, including provisions for boosting exports around the world.
On the judicial front, Argentina’s Supreme Court rendered a decision in July 2022 that provides some legal protections for home cultivation by medical cannabis patients. Later in 2022, in October, Argentina issued the nation’s first domestic medical cannabis production license.
That same month Argentina’s government launched a public company to provide seeds, testing, and training to the emerging cannabis industry, and now Argentina’s government has created an agency to oversee the emerging industry and hopefully help it reach its full potential. Per InfoBae (translated to English):
In the context of the law sanctioned last May through which the regulatory framework is created to start an industrial process with the cannabis plant in Argentina, finally this Monday the national government created the Regulatory Agency for the Hemp Industry and the Medicinal Cannabis (ARICCAME), the state body whose main task will be to convert the letter of the law into management.
For now, the regulatory decree signed by Juan Manzur, Chief of Staff, and Sergio Tomás Massa, Minister of Economy, only announces the creation of ARICCAME and the appointment of its authorities. The first president in the history of the Agency will be the current mayor of the Buenos Aires city of Castelli, Francisco Echarren . The vice-president will be the doctor Marcelo Morante , historical activist of the cannabis cause, and in charge of the operation of the registry of medicinal users of the national Ministry of Health.
Now, Argentina appears to have a keen eye on cannabis exports, with several comments surfacing in recent months from various leaders expressing a strong desire to make Argentina a top international supplier of medical cannabis products.
Only time will tell if that actually happens, with Argentina being somewhat late to the cannabis export party. The country deserves credit for proceeding in rapid fashion in recent months.
However, several other countries are already exporting medical cannabis products around the world. As such, Argentina has some catching up to do.
This article first appeared on Internationalcbc.com and is syndicated here with special permission.
