Uruguay’s Medical Cannabis Industry To Expand Via Authorization Of ‘Master Formulas’

Uruguay was the first country to ever pass and implement a national adult-use legalization measure. Lawmakers initially passed a legalization measure back in 2013, and regulated adult-use sales via pharmacies began in 2017.

Since that time Uruguay’s emerging legal adult-use industry has garnered significant international attention and generated considerable headlines, and rightfully so. After all, what Uruguay did and continues to do on the adult-use front is truly historic.

However, Uruguay’s cannabis industry and policy are not limited to just adult-use cannabis. Uruguay’s medical cannabis program, which receives far less attention, is set to undergo a fairly substantial expansion thanks to a recent authorization by the government. Per Montevideo (translated to English):

The government established through a decree the expansion of access routes to products made from medical cannabis, by regulating a procedure to be able to carry out treatments through master formulations prescribed by treating doctors and made in authorized pharmacies.

The decree enabled access to “master preparations based on cannabis extracts or standardized cannabinoids, from companies authorized by the Department of Medicines for the production of plant raw material with pharmacological activity.” “These master preparations may exclusively contain active principles derived from cannabis,” added the second article of the regulations.

This new authorization will hopefully help some of the most suffering patients in the South American nation, who historically have had to rely on less-sophisticated forms of medical cannabis. This is not to say that raw flower and rudimentary preparations are not sufficient, as those options can clearly help many people. Yet, for some suffering patients, they are not the best option.

Depending on a suffering patient’s condition(s), certain consumption methods are not as viable as others. Additionally, particular conditions and individual cases respond better to certain formulations for various reasons, so patients in Uruguay having more options to consider is a great thing from that perspective.