Chile's New Constitution: An Opportunity for Cannabis?

Home | Canna Law Blog | Chile’s New Constitution: An Opportunity for Cannabis? This past May 15 and 16, Chile elected a constitutional convention, tasked with drafting a new basic law for the South American country. Cannabis observers should take note, as the resulting document could have positive implications for cannabis. Chileans voted in favor of a constitutional overhaul following the protests that roiled the country in 2019 and 2020, largely seen as a reaction against growing social inequality. According to critics, the outgoing Constitution of 1980 is a holdover from the Pinochet dictatorship, though others note the charter has been extensively amended during Chile's democratic era, removing its authoritarian imprint. Not surprising given the current zeitgeist in Chile, traditional left-wing parties won 53 of the convention's 155 seats, with a further 48 picked up by independents, most of whom "are left-wing community organizers and activists of traditional left-wing causes, including environmentalists, feminists, public housing advocates and community organizers." An additional 17 seats will be held by members of indigenous groups, "most of whom are also identified with left-wing causes." According to Fundación Daya, a nonprofit that advocates for Chilean medical cannabis patients, 104 of the 155 delegates to the constitutional convention "support effective decriminalization … of cannabis and home cultivation." While medical cannabis is legal in Chile, advocates decry law enforcement overreach, as well as the difficulties securing affordable treatment. Fundación Daya's director, Ana María Gazmuri, has cautioned that "neither the word cannabis nor marijuana will appear anywhere in the new Constitution." Instead, the new document could provide "a framework that guarantees health as a right, incorporating all therapeutic alternatives, as well as the ancestral, popular and traditional knowledge of our native peoples." Keep in the mind that representatives of those native peoples constitute 10% of the convention. While there is considerable focus on medical cannabis access, there are also voices that call for broader legalization. For convention candidate Fernando Sepúlveda: it must be explicitly established in the new Constitution that no agent of the state may interfere with personal sovereignty unless there is evidence of damage to third parties or a protected legal asset such as nature. Such emphasis on individual choice would be consistent with legal adult-use cannabis. At least one elected conventioneer, Manuela Royo, has called for recreational cannabis legalization, nothing her own recreational cannabis use had "not prevented [her] from being a competent professional." Fundación Daya has also highlighted the election of several mayors (concurrently with the elections for the convention) who support increased access to medical cannabis, for example through nonprofit drugstores (farmacias populares), as well as an end to legal ambiguities. These include Irací Hassler, the Communist (yes, you read that right) mayor-elect of the nation's capital, Santiago. This wave of pro-cannabis elected officials could be a preview of Chile's November legislative and presidential elections. If cannabis advocates can lobby effectively, it may only be a matter of time before we see a robust legal framework that increases access to Chilean medical cannabis, and perhaps adult-use cannabis as well. 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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