On July 09th and 10th, the Modern Art Museum, in Rio de Janeiro, received the international seminar Medical cannabis: a look into the future. Promoted by the Support Association to Medical Cannabis Research and Patients (Apepi), supported by Fiocruz, the event had the presence of doctors, scientists and lawyers who debated about the access, research and regulation of the use of cannabis for medical purposes. Fiotec was represented by its executive director, Hayne Felipe.
During the opening, neuroscientist Sidarta Ribeiro, professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), listed several illnesses that may be treated through medical cannabis, such as infantile autism, depression, epilepsy, sclerosis, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, among others. “Cannabis is the 21’s century medicine, and it means virtually an entire pharmacopoeia. Still in this century we shall see cannabis become the first medical choice for many diseases,” he emphasized.
In his speech, the coordinator of Fiocruz Interinstitutional Relations, Valcler Rangel, drew attention to the use of cannabis in several illnesses as a matter of public health, and reinforced that Fiocruz will fund research that shows the advancements and possible treatments. “We need to build public policies based on scientific research that, across the world, prove the benefits of medical cannabis. For such, we need to mobilize the society, informing them about these successes and fighting against preconceptions.”
On the second day of the seminar, the Indigenous and environmentalist leader, Ailton Krenak, reflected on the stigmas that cannabis suffers from in the society. “Cannabis is an entity that must be treated with respect. We must accept that, for many, it has a healing effect, enabling people to live with less pain and discomfort; while for others, it is a pursuit for transcendence. We cannot discriminate a plant because of moral and cultural values, this is a serious mistake.”
Besides the traditional, millennial uses of cannabis in medicine, the event debated topics such as the costs of the war on drugs and the advancements obtained by researchers in several countries. Lectures also emphasized that the access to medical cannabis is already legal in 36 states of the United States and in many countries, such as Germany, Israel, Canada, Argentina, and others.
Source: Fiocruz News Agency (AFN, acronym in Portuguese).
