MJBizMag September 2020 - 81

What's the status of CBD in Colombia,
and how does it relate to the World
Health Organization's (WHO) cannabis
scheduling recommendations?
In Colombia, even before the cannabis
law, it was clear that CBD is not a narcotic
drug. The FNE has been allowing
imports and exports for years.
But THC is a narcotic. The lack of
standards regarding THC traces in
CBD medicines is what the WHO is
proposing to solve with an international
THC threshold. If the recommendation
is approved, it would eliminate a barrier
of access to medical CBD products while
allowing drug-enforcement authorities
to focus on more dangerous drugs-of
which there are plenty.
Unfortunately, drug policymaking
has been historically based in good
intentions but also a lack of evidence.
The current scheduling status of cannabis
and cannabis products is the best proof,
and change at a multinational level is
extremely challenging and slow.
In this scenario, I think countries
should focus on taking a step ahead on
national levels. They should set their own
THC limits to define narcotics in favor of
patients and based on science.
Companies that have already made
What has been the social impact of
medical legalization in Colombia?
The Colombian cannabis law is based
on the constitutional right to health,
and the purpose is to provide safe
access to medicinal cannabis. Of
course, it also creates a new industry
with opportunities for economic
development and revenue.
At the very beginning, the industry
was seen more as a new agriculture
business rather than a pharmaceutical
operation. Now, with regulations in
some of the more promising markets
like Brazil and Germany being
quite restrictive in terms of quality
standards, it's clear that significant
investment should be made to develop
such capacities. But it won't be easy for
small growers to afford to comply with
such regulations.
such investments are employing a lot
of local workers in their operations,
providing formal employment-usually
with gender inclusion.
Significant employment was
also generated around licensing in
Colombia. This includes service
providers of legal, agronomic and
technical consultancy that in many
cases help the smaller companies get
up and running.
Which foreign cannabis regulations
were considered for the Colombian
regulatory model?
At the end of 2014, I joined Sen. Juan
Manuel Galan-the future author of the
Colombian cannabis law-and some
other lawmakers in a visit to Colorado.
There, we had a rich exchange of
experiences with lawmakers, licensed
producers, dispensaries and patients.
Experts from Colorado provided
valuable insights about the main
mistakes and related amendments to
their regulations.
Also, Uruguay was an interesting
source of ideas-particularly regarding
the separation of high-THC and lowTHC
cannabis regulations-to make a
policy based in risk assessment.
We also learned from countries like
Germany, where the use of magistral
preparations as a high-quality
alternative to registered medicines is
key. Also, like in Germany, we didn't
want to write a list of qualifying medical
conditions, which might be restrictive
and hard to update. We preferred to
leave the decision to the doctors.
The interview has been edited for length
and clarity.
September 2020 | mjbizdaily.com 81
Andrés López
http://www.mjbizdaily.com

MJBizMag September 2020

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