A Brazilian appeals court will decide whether companies and farmers can grow cannabis in South America’s largest country.
This could open the door to legal medicinal and industrial cultivation after legislative efforts stalled in recent years.
The Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) decision, Brazil’s top appellate court for non-constitutional matters, was released on March 14.
It establishes its jurisdiction to set a nationwide precedent regarding importing seeds and cultivating cannabis.
All pending cases regarding permission to grow cannabis in the country will be frozen until the STJ issues a final and binding decision, according to two lawyers prosecuting the case.
Brazil allows the sale and manufacture of cannabis products, but companies must import key ingredients.
The court’s final decision on cannabis, expected within the next year, could make it an enabler on an issue many in Brazil’s conservative-leaning Congress spurned, like the 2011 Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for same-sex marriage.
Cultivation of Cannabis sativa L, the plant from which hemp and marijuana are derived, is banned.
Researchers and cannabis companies have argued that Brazil’s tropical climate is ideally suited to make it a world-leading supplier.
Supporters argue that banning cultivation domestically will increase the final cost of the drugs for consumers who rely on imports.
“Congress is a little afraid to decide on the cannabis issue because it’s controversial,” said Arthur Arsuffi, a lawyer representing biotech startup ‘DNA Soluções em Biotecnologia’ in the case before the STJ.
“This has delayed a decision, and given the number of lawsuits; the judiciary will have to resolve the issue in the end.”
DNA has filed a civil suit demanding the right to import seeds and grow cannabis with higher levels of cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD) and less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive component of the plant.
Hemp, which contains less than 0.3% THC and much more CBD, is touted by some advocates as beneficial for treating conditions such as epilepsy in children.
José Bacellar, chief executive of pharmaceutical company VerdeMed, said the courts may now lead the way in cannabis policy, as they have in Canada.