Subscribe via E-Mail

Get all of our news delivered fresh to your inbox every morning! Just tell us your name and where to send it using the form below.

PS – We hate spam too. We don’t sell or share our list with anyone, and we never send commercial email.




luxe
Friday, January 29th, 2016  |  USD: Buy 531.29 / Sell 543.92
20 years

Costa Rica’s Health Minister supports medical marijuana bill; CCSS would provide the drug free of charge

Email this page

August 12th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) Costa Rica’s Health Minister, Dr. Maria Elena Lopez, says she supports a medical marijuana bill that was presented to the country’s Legislative Assembly yesterday.

 

“Marijuana has been used for various therapeutic purposes,” Lopez said.

 

Marvin Delgado Atencio, the PAC lawmaker who presented the bill, said yesterday that medical marijuana and products derived from it could be a significant source of tax revenue, estimating it could generate some $20 million annually for the State.

 

“The bill includes concessions, licenses, permits and a tax of 7%,” Atencio said.

 

The bill would create a research institute attached to the Ministry of Health, which would be responsible for conducting studies and granting licenses and permits.  The institute would also be in charge of issuing prescription cards for consumers.

 

Products that could be derived from medical marijuana include pills, suppositories, transdermal patches, ointments, suspensions and more.

 

Atencio said medical marijuana would be provided for free as part of Costa Rica’s public health system (CCSS) to patients that required it, and would also be available in the private sector healthcare system.

 

 

costa rica news

ATTENTION: If you are seeing this message,


Advertisement


Get our news delivered fresh to your inbox every morning.

Click here to subscribe to our email list. We hate spam too and never send commercial email.

Like us on Facebook and receive our news in your timeline

  • SDPUS

    We need healthcare and education in regards to marijuana, not prison and corruption!

  • expatin paradise

    Approving medical use of marijuana is a good first step. Experience with marijuana as medicine will help convince Ticos that all illegal drugs are not the same – many Tico friends have told me that it is a “droga”, talking about it as if it is the same as heroin. As someone who has used marijuana for severe chronic pain, I know that it is of value in reducing the dosage of strong pain meds.

    Hopefully, after allowing use of marijuana medicinally, Costa Rica will see that it is less harmful than alcohol and make it legal for adults to use recreationally, opening the door to a much-needed source of tax revenue. In the interim, the government should look at the cases of prisoners serving time on drug charges and consider paroles for those charged with more minor marijuana offenses.

  • SarongGoddess

    When passed, this is one of the SMARTEST acts I’ve seen come CR in AGES!!! A) it WILL help the PEOPLE of CR & maybe it could help them with Medical Tourism as CR has outpriced themselves in this market – now one of the higher end countries of countries known for Medical Tourism.

Popular Content