Roughly one year after the former Costa Rica President, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, signed legislation to allow cannabis for medical use and hemp for industrial purposes, the country issued its first medical cannabis license.
Lawmakers established the regulations for industrial hemp and medical cannabis in September 2022. Since then, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), Víctor Carvajal, has issued eight hemp permits and now one medical cannabis permit, Q Costa Rica reported.
The medical cannabis license was issued to Azul Wellness S.A. as part of Día del Agricultor, also known as “Farmer’s Day.” Azul Wellness S.A. will open an 800-square-foot medical cannabis cultivation and processing greenhouse in Filadelfia, Guanacaste, Q Costa Rica reported.
The country’s law defines industrial hemp as the plant or part of the plant and its derivatives and extracts to contain less than 1% THC by dry weight. It classifies psychoactive cannabis as having greater than or equal to 1% THC by dry weight.
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U.S. hemp Farmers have been advocating for the legal limit of THC in hemp to be raised from 0.3% to 1% for some time now, with hopes of the rule changing in the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill.
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