“Medical and recreationally legal marijuana has also been taking root in South America, from full-scale legalization in Uruguay to decriminalization in Chile.
Now, thanks to a group of caring mothers, medical marijuana may soon find a home in the mountainous and generally conservative country of Peru. Public support has blossomed after a police raid on a makeshift marijuana lab run by women looking to ease the symptoms of their sick children.
Unexpectedly, the ‘drug bust’ ended up amplifying the women’s plight on national television, creating a massive boom in public support. The backlash towards the police raid has pressured President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to set aside outdated drug restriction laws and propose medical cannabis legislation.
According to Ana Alvarez, one of the women in charge of the makeshift lab, cannabis oil is the only treatment that has alleviated her son’s seizures and psychotic episodes. Together, Alvarez and other women in similar predicaments have formed the group Searching for Hope, an organization that is seeking legal backing for the production of medical cannabis in Peru.
After the raid took place, a recently conducted poll showed that 65 percent of Peruvians supported medical legalization, while just 13 percent backed legalizing recreational use of the drug. Medical marijuana is already legal in the neighboring countries of Colombia and Chile, while Uruguay has had recreational legalization since 2013.”
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See full article – Mothers in Peru Lead the Fight for Medical Cannabis Legislation – MERRY JANE
