Medical Marijuana, Inc. portfolio company HempMeds® revealed this week that its popular RSHO-X™ CBD oil has been approved for patients in Argentina.
HempMeds® announced recently that it had its first CBD products authorized for import into Argentina. Real Scientific Hemp Oil-X™ (RSHO-X™) will now be available for free to qualifying patients as part of the country’s healthcare system.
Argentina’s National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) officially approved the product for import for patients in the country suffering from serious medical conditions.
“As a company of firsts, we’re proud to offer the first CBD product in Argentina with no detectable levels of THC,” said Medical Marijuana, Inc. CEO Dr. Stuart Titus. “In recent years, our company has been a leader in providing several Latin American countries with access to CBD and we’re happy to add this very important country to our roster.”
Entry into Argentina Market
Lawmakers in Argentina first legalized CBD oil for the treatment of serious medical conditions when the country’s Senate approved their medical cannabis law on Wednesday, March 29, 2017.
However, the process started in 2015 when nearly 150 Argentine families petitioned Congress to hear their pleas for the legalization of medical cannabis. Their heartfelt calls for access to CBD motivated Argentina’s lawmakers to create the framework for a medical cannabis program for patients in the country.
Under 2017’s law, CBD products must be prescribed by a licensed physician. A patient is allowed to import as much as a six-month’s supply. RSHO-X™ is currently only available for patients with refractory epilepsy, but more conditions are expected to follow suit.
Patients looking to access CBD products in Argentina must register with the Ministry of Health. The government has said it will guarantee free access to CBD oil for all patients who are approved for CBD as a medication.
The law doesn’t permit patients to grow or produce their own medicine; instead, patients can import products like RSHO-X™ through health care providers in the country. FLOS Innovation, a company known for its dedication to high-quality offerings and product transparency, will be the exclusive distributor of RSHO-X™ in Argentina.
“We’re very excited to partner with HempMeds and distribute these high-quality CBD products in our country,” said FLOS Innovation CEO Carlos Mendez. “We only work with the most reputable companies on the market and this company is no exception. We are very enthusiastic to help people understand the many therapeutic benefits of the product.”
CBD in Latin America
Argentina is an important country for HempMeds’® expansion into Latin America. The country represents a significant healthcare market of more than 43 million people that is just now opening to CBD products like those distributed by HempMeds®. Argentina is just the latest Latin American country to approve RSHO™ CBD products for its patients.
HempMeds® first introduced its line of RSHO™ CBD products to Latin America in 2014 when Brazil began approving the importation of RSHO™ for patients in the country on a case by case basis. HempMeds® launched HempMeds® Brasil to work within Brazil’s unique legal framework for CBD products. Soon, the country’s health authority and lawmakers would approve patients looking to access RSHO™ for a number of conditions.
The next year, the government in Brazil began subsidizing the full-cost of CBD products for their citizens. Also in 2015, Medical Marijuana, Inc. began distributing its products in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
Mexico would become the next Latin American country to authorize CBD products for patients suffering from certain medical conditions. Working closely with doctors, patients, and lawmakers in the country, HempMeds® Mexico and Medical Marijuana, Inc. created RSHO-X™, a first of its kind CBD product with no detectable levels of THC, specifically to meet the tight restrictions in Mexico on products containing THC. The government of the State of Mexico would go on to subsidize CBD products for citizens living there.
HempMeds® began distributing CBD products to patients in a third Latin American country in 2016 when it expanded its operations into Paraguay. Previous to Paraguay’s decision to approve RSHO™ for import, all cannabis products, even hemp-derived CBD, were banned in the country. The company has also started business operations in Chile and Colombia, with patients there importing RSHO™ products with the government’s approval.
Healthcare costs in Latin America are expected to soar as the region pushes for a more comprehensive universal healthcare system. With an anticipated growth rate of 7.7 percent leading into 2017, Latin America is the “third fastest growing healthcare market in the world after The Middle East and Africa (9.9%) and Eastern Europe (8.4%).” Pharmaceutical spending in the region is also on the rise and could soon reach $100 billion. As seen in the U.S., use of cannabis for medical purposes may reduce reliance on prescription pharmaceuticals in the region by providing a natural alternative.
Learn More About Medical Marijuana, Inc.’s International Expansion
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