Medical cannabis in São Paulo’s public health system is the result of active citizenship by civil society

An important step towards democratizing access to the medicinal properties of cannabis was taken last Tuesday (31st) with the sanctioning of the bill that authorizes the supply of medicines made from the plant in the public health system in São Paulo. The approval is the result of the active citizenship of civil society, a struggle in which the Humanitas360 Institute stood side by side with families, patients, health professionals, entrepreneurs and lawyers in the discussion of the bill, as well as innovative organizations and platforms, such as The Green Hub, specialized in technology and innovation for business focused on the medical and industrial cannabis industry. Nor can we forget the more than 40,000 people who signed the petition for the inclusion of medicines in the Unified Health System, known as SUS.

Presented by state deputy Caio França and defended by the pioneering Parliamentary Front for the Defense of Medical Cannabis and Industrial Hemp, the Bill nº 1.180/2019 has the potential to bring relief to thousands of families from São Paulo who previously depended on lawsuits to seek treatments widely endorsed by science and, in at least 23 cases, authorized by the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency. Epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, glaucoma, depression, and anxiety are some of the ills remedied by the use of cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol, components of cannabis-based medicines.

The president of Humanitas360 Institute, Patrícia Villela Marino, actively participated in the debates and, in a public hearing promoted by the Parliamentary Front on the issue, said: “This market, which was criminalized and marginalized racialized bodies and stigmatized cultures, came out of illegality through scientific research, investigative advocacy and the exercise of citizenship. A market that today can promote climate justice and a less unequal future.”

Let this be one more step towards the necessary and just approval of a Cannabis Law at the federal level, capable of democratizing access to these medicines to all Brazilian families.