Medical Cultivation OK'd in Brazil

Home | Canna Law Blog | Medical Cultivation OK’d in Brazil On June 14, the Sixth Panel (Sexta Turma) of Brazil's Superior Court of Justice (Superior Tribunal de Justiça, or STJ) issued a decision allowing cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes. The STJ is responsible for uniformizing the interpretation of Brazilian federal law across the country, and serves as the court of final appeal for cases that do not involve constitutional matters. While the STJ decision applies only to the three plaintiffs in the case at hand, it establishes a precedent that lower courts can follow. Back in March 2021, in Cannabis for Brazilian Pets and Their Humans, we noted that Brazilian courts were granting habeas corpus petitions made by citizens seeking to grow their own cannabis for medical purposes, adding that it would be interesting to see if the trend resulted in judicial decisions of broader application. The STJ has now provided an answer, and one that represents good news for medical cannabis users. Brazil legalized the prescription of cannabis products for medical use in 2014, but an ongoing prohibition on cultivation under Brazil's Drugs Law (Law 11.343/06) forced consumers to rely on expensive imports. The three plaintiffs in the STJ decision had authorization from the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, or Anvisa) to import cannabidiol (CBD), but high import costs compromised their access to their medication. Explaining the STJ's reasoning for protecting the plaintiffs against application of the Drugs Law, Minister Sebastião Reis Júnior argued that the legal treatment of cannabis cultivation activities cannot be divorced from their purpose. Where cultivation is part of the pursuit of the right to health, criminalization is unjustified. On this note, the Sixth Panel's justices criticized the regulators' failure to provide for legal cultivation for medical and scientific purposes. For Minister Rogerio Schietti Cruz, "this regulatory omission creates a segregation between patients who can afford treatment, importing cannabidiol-based drugs, and those who cannot." As noted earlier, the STJ decision applies only to the three plaintiffs in the case. And while the decision could pave the way for similar decisions by lower courts, this would require medical cannabis users to file for relief in the first place. It is possible that the STJ decision, perhaps coupled with a growing number of granted habeas petitions by courts across Brazil, could lead to de facto decriminalization of home cultivation for medical purposes. Ideally, however, regulators will take notice of this call by a top court, and put into place rules that facilitate access to medical cannabis for Brazilians. Check Out Our Cannabis Law Services Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn E-mail Comment Fred Rocafort Fred leads Harris Sliwoski’s intellectual property practice and is the coordinator of the firm’s international team. Much of Fred’s practice consists of helping cannabis businesses protect their brands. He also works with entrepreneurs and companies entering the Web3 space, a new frontier for IP law. Prior to joining Harris Sliwoski, Fred worked overseas for more than a decade, in both government and private sector roles. Fred is a regular contributor to the award-winning China Law Blog and Canna Law Blog. Fred began his career overseas as a U.S. consular officer in Guangzhou, China, where he advocated for fairer treatment of American companies and citizens in China and for stronger intellectual property rights enforcement. After entering the private sector, Fred worked at a Shanghai law firm as a foreign legal advisor and later joined one of the oldest American law firms in China, helping foreign companies navigate the Chinese legal environment. He also led the legal team at a Hong Kong-based brand protection consultancy, spending most of his time out in the field, protecting clients against counterfeiters and fraudsters in Greater China, Southeast Asia and Latin America. In addition to his IP work, as a native Spanish speaker, Fred works closely with different Harris Sliwoski teams on Latin America and Spain matters. Fred also provides advice to cannabis industry participants and other businesses on import and export transactions. Fred is an ardent supporter of FC Barcelona—and would be even in the absence of Catalan forebears who immigrated to Puerto Rico in the mid-1800s. 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