Peru: Committee Unanimously Approves Bill to Legalize Medical Cannabis
Peru’s Congressional Committee on National Defense has given approval to legislation that would legalize medical cannabis.
According to Congressman Alberto de Belaunde saidö, “The Commission on Defense has unanimously decided to propose the law that decriminalizes the medicinal use of cannabis”. Approval of the measure comes amid public outcry over a police raid on a makeshift cannabis lab run by mothers seeking to soothe the symptoms of their sick children.
The bill – introduced by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski – will now go before the nation’s full Congress for consideration.
According to Euro News, earlier this year, an Ipsos poll found that 65 percent of Peruvians support legalizing cannabis for medical purposes.
If the legislation is passed into law, Peru will join several of its Latin American neighbors – namely Chile, Colombia and Mexico – as nations that allow the medical use of cannabis.
