06/06/2023
Mexico loses important opportunities by not regulating cannabis products.
The country could be a power in issues such as the industrial use of h**p, but the lack of regulation has blocked that opportunity.
Taboos and misinformation, sometimes fed from the institutions, have caused Mexico to fall behind in the regulation of cannabis-derived products, Raúl Elizalde, CEO of HempMeds and founder of “Por Grace AC”, explains to Publimetro . He was the first person to obtain an injunction from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation for his daughter, Grace, to receive a medical cannabis treatment.
Q: Where are we in Mexico in terms of regulation of cannabis products? What if you can and what you can't?
The issue of medical cannabis (CBD, THC) really arose in 2015, with the case of my daughter Graciela Elizalde de Benavides, who has epilepsy and for whom the only way left for treatment was to try cannabis, specifically, to treat with CBD.
In 2015 it was not possible, by law. This did not exist, practically. Cannabinoids -specifically THC- was prohibited. In 2017, the law changed and therapeutic benefits were recognized for tetrahydrocannabinol -or THC-, which is the psychoactive compound of the plant.
The plant has more than 200 compounds , and of all those, only one is psychoactive. All the others are not harmful to health, they do not cause any health problems. THC yes.
In 2016 , CBD began to be imported into Mexico, before the law changed, when Mikel Arriola was still at Cofepris, and it began to be imported because CBD is not on the list of controlled substances. The importation of products that have only and exclusively CBD is allowed.
As of 2017, in theory, any cannabinoid, including THC, is allowed.
At the end of 2018, some guidelines were published for medical use, but also for industrial use, which is already provided for in the General Health Law with the 2017 reforms. With these guidelines, several companies were able to obtain permits for some products. But, when the government changes, the new Cofepris revokes these guidelines and practically stays with the General Health Law, but remains without regulations.
Not having a regulation, they go to the general, but there is an amparo that legally goes to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. The SCJN resolves and forces Cofepris -and the Ministry of Health- to publish a regulation, which was forcibly published in January 2021.
But, since the amparo was solely and exclusively for medicinal use, this regulation only regulates medicinal uses and industrial uses are left aside.
What do we have today in Mexico in regulation? What can be done, what can't be done, where are we standing?
We have a law, since 2017 , that recognizes the therapeutic benefits of medical cannabis, that recognizes therapeutic properties of a compound, which is the psychotropic THC. Not before and medicines could not be made. Today in Mexico you can make medicines with THC.
We have a regulation that, in theory, allows the preparation of any medicine with cannabinoids, including THC. What happened to that regulation? The reality is that nothing has happened, because it has not been possible -until today- to register any product as a medicine. That is the problem.
On the other hand, several companies have carried out litigation, practically, strategic and legal work so that what is already established by law as industrial uses is recognized.
The reality is that we are in a huge gray area today. On the one hand, we have laws that allow the medicinal use of cannabis, but we don't have any medicinal cannabis products. What is happening? Well, something is failing in that process.
The law is a law that is not perfect - and there are no perfect laws - but, despite not being perfect, it seems that it is impossible to comply with in order to have access to these products as medicines. So, we have a law that is not working.
On the other hand, we have recognition from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation that it can be marketed, that it can be planted and there is a legal process right now to be able to plant these products in Mexico.
We also have the recognition that CBD is not a psychotropic product and the permits that were made at that time also established it that way. CBD is not a psychotropic molecule, nor does it really pose a health hazard. Unlike THC , which could not be found in supplements, cosmetics, or food, because in the end it is a psychotropic.
Q: Are you missing out on a great opportunity by being in this gray area?
Without a doubt, a great opportunity is being lost in the country. In the year 2016-2017 there was a boom in this type of product , especially in the largest market in the world, which is -still- the United States.
At that time we said: "Right now is the perfect time to regulate the issue of cannabis" and we did not talk about the issue of ma*****na, we talked about the issue of h**p. We said: " We are going to regulate h**p - which does not represent a health hazard, it is not ma*****na - because in the United States there is a boom in this type of product ."
Unfortunately, the boom in the United States has already reached its peak and, in Mexico, we missed that opportunity to become a transformer and maquila of this type of product, and to plant industrial h**p. We missed that.
Today we still have a very good opportunity, but every year that we are delaying we are losing a valuable advantage against other countries.
For example, in the United States, President Donald Trump signed The Farm Bill , a decree by which they made that legal difference between h**p and ma*****na, and this h**p boom came in 2020.
Mexico is losing that opportunity, because h**p is being planted in almost all states. Texas, which is a conservative state with no favorable ma*****na policies, is one of the top growers of h**p. Florida, Arizona, North Carolina...the entire United States is growing h**p.
When we begin to have these laws in Mexico, we are going to be in a not very favorable situation and we are going to struggle to compete with our neighbors to the north. It is not going to happen to us like with corn, which is cheaper to import than to plant it.
Q: The Government of Mexico has a campaign for young people called "If you get high, you get hurt", where it talks about the consequences of cannabis use but makes no difference between medicinal, therapeutic, industrial uses or anything else. It even confuses THC and CBD.
Well, it is part of the ignorance and what a pity that, having capable people within the government, we have this misinformation.
It is a reality that in Mexico there are many people who sell products that claim to be CBD and it is not, it brings THC. Why is this happening? Because we don't have market regulations and because people are going to the black market to buy these products.
We do not have laboratories to be able to do these analyzes in Mexico. There are no quality extraction processes in most places and the people who do it are unaware because the industry is clandestine.
That's what happens when you have an underground industry. I have no doubt that most of the products sold in Mexico as CBD contain ma*****na. I do not doubt it. They shouldn't have it, but I don't doubt that this happens and that's a problem.
That is part of the misinformation generated by not having adequate regulation. We confuse ma*****na products with h**p products, we confuse a THC dropper with a CBD dropper . It is completely impossible for someone to get high on CBD.
Q: It is the taboo that you have had to face..
Since we have the association "Por Grace", created in 2016. It is the first association related to medical cannabis. And that is our main job. Sometimes it is difficult because there is that taboo, this barrier. When you talk about cannabis, immediately comes the stigma of ci******es and that stigma comes from government campaigns, really.
Sometimes it is difficult to talk about these topics because of the great taboo that exists , but the reality is that talking about h**p should be something very normal. And when it comes to CBD and THC, they should be kept as two completely different things.
THC is a product that does need control and is a psychotropic, against CBD , a product that can be an excellent therapeutic tool and can even be used as a neuroprotective, and can be considered as a food supplement.
Q: Speaking of the medicinal uses of cannabis, where has scientific research progressed
Since 2019-2020 there are already drugs registered by the FDA in the United States specifically for refractory epilepsy, which have been proven to work.
When we started this topic in 2015, the government that answered us told us: "Grace has no right to test it, because it is still not 100% sure that it works." And we said: “ It's just that we don't need 100% security. As long as there are favorable elements and studies that tell us that she can be a candidate, and that she can be beneficial, we would like to treat it ”.
Well, today, these studies already exist and it is already scientifically proven that CBD helps in epilepsy. But not only in that disease, which is where more specific benefits are seen. It is practically for any neurodegenerative disease or condition.
CBD is a neuroprotective. It is not that CBD is going to cure your epilepsy, but it is going to help you have a better quality of life and regulate the central nervous system. Although in the United States it is considered a medicine, it can also fall into the status of a supplement, a herbal remedy, a therapeutic botanical remedy, because it is not necessarily the medicine that cures and treats that disease, but rather a product that It can be a neuroprotective.
Q: You have taken your work for medical cannabis to the United States and other parts of the world. What is the outlook like outside of Mexico?
Latinos stand in solidarity with the pain of others and when we see someone suffering, we try to help them. I think the governments in Latin America have seen that and have changed a lot. I think almost all of America already has a regulation of some kind on medical cannabis.
We have the opportunity to work in markets like Brazil or Argentina and we see how these products are changing their lives.
Some countries started with us, like Brazil, and today they are light years ahead of us. Argentina started after Mexico and they already have the registration of several products. Paraguay, which started after us and which is a small country, already has a project to plant industrial h**p and already has medicines in pharmacies.
In Latin America, almost all countries have cannabis regulations: Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, not to mention, which is one of those that started with the recreational issue.
This is changing, and in Mexico too. What we need is for the political will to exist. If they want to draw up a regulation to have a product available to the majority of Mexicans, that can work for them, I think it is important that the government meet with the industry because, if we want to regulate without listening to the parties, we are not going to have a good regulation.
On the contrary, we are going to make very bad regulations, because we cannot ask the government to know everything. In other words, the government has to rely on companies and people who have knowledge about this industry.
Q: What are the main pending issues to be resolved in Mexico on the issue of cannabis? Especially since there are those who take advantage of that gray area...
Yes [they take advantage], and for worse. I very well understand the concern that exists from the Presidency, and I perfectly understand the concern that exists in Cofepris and in the Ministry of Health regarding the use of ma*****na. That's why I think it should be regulated.
We would also need to understand the differences between the industrial uses of h**p, where we could be a powerhouse, for different types of products. Not only medicines, but food, textiles, biofuels, plastics, construction with h**p.
There are countless uses whose projects are still unable to advance because there is a negative stigma of cannabis for adult use. We do not want to separate h**p from cannabis, nor h**p from ma*****na.
Q: It could even be harmonized with what the United States and Latin America have advanced...
Exactly. Now, if they do not want to regulate adult use -which is already recognized by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and there is even a declaration of unconstitutionality-, that's fine... but, at least we are going to put ourselves on a par with the United States in relation to the industrial h**p.
In reality there is no problem with CBD , despite the fact that studies or news suddenly come out. The reality is that, in the United States, h**p is well regarded and there is no problem with that, unlike other compounds such as THC.
Q: Finally, how is Grace? What cash cut can you give us after all these years of fighting?
When we started Grace was 8 years old. Today Grace is going to be 16 years old, that is, another 8 years have passed.
And so, Grace, it's very good. We have done very well. It has changed his quality of life completely. She lives more with her sisters, she lives more with us, we can take her out to a restaurant without the fear that she will have a seizure and fall and hit a table. It really changed everything for us.
When we started we knew that it might or might not work for her, but we also knew that she had that right to treat it. Today we are completely sure that it was the right decision and we have seen how our daughter's quality of life has changed. She is another girl from before to now.
Q: That is very important. The regulations are so that people have the right to try…
Exactly. This is not about “ Ah! Maybe it doesn't work! ”. It doesn't matter if it doesn't work, I have the right to try and that's what I want to look for.
That's why I think we have to understand very well that when people talk about cannabis, they have to know what we're talking about . If we talk about cannabis, we must make the difference between h**p, industrial uses of cannabis, or ma*****na. You always have to make that difference, because it does matter. That taboo is what sometimes prevents this topic from moving forward.
Where can Publimetro readers get more information?
The best page to get information about cannabinoids and what medical cannabis is is the “By Grace” page, which is the one I would recommend to anyone who wants to start understanding medical cannabis. It is www.porgrace.org.mx .
https://www.publimetro.com.mx/nacional/2023/06/05/como-esta-mexico-en-la-regulacion-de-la-ma*****na-medicinal-cbd-y-thc/
By Miguel Velazquez. June 5, 2023
El país podría ser potencia en temas como el uso industrial del cáñamo, pero la falta de regulación ha bloqueado esa oportunidad
