Have you heard of the Repense Campaign? If the answer is no, be sure to read a little more about it with us today.

In 2014, the first action of Repense was launched, with the short film Illegal – that brought information to the public about the therapeutic use of the plant. Now, in 2019, seven associations have come together to develop a document with current data on the cannabis market, arguments about why regulations and how laws work in other countries, to broaden the debate on the subject.

In the last few months, cannabis has been the subject of several debates in Brazilian society, especially at Anvisa, which opened a public consultation on the regulation of the medicinal use and production of the plant. In the legislature, bills on this are already being processed.

Get to know REPENSE

Made from crowdfunding, the REPENSE Campaign is a collective of professionals who seek to bring the Brazilian population more information about cannabis, especially medicinal, and how its use can be beneficial for various purposes.

According to them, there are more than 600 thousand Brazilians who can benefit, using the herb as a way to alleviate types of epilepsy without treatment. Cannabis is also proven effective in relieving nausea and vomiting in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, and it relieves the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a serious and unheable disease.

These are just some of the medicinal applications of the herb. Countries like Canada, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Israel have already popularized this type of therapy. In Brazil, almost nobody knows this. For the creators of the campaign, the hundreds of thousands of people who could benefit from treatment with it have only two options: to continue suffering or to use the drug illegally.

Principles of REPENSE

The vision presented by Repense brings to the public some principles necessary for fairer regulation, or as they put it: the “regulation we need”. We have separated some of them here. Take a look:

1. REMOVE CANNABIS SATIVA FROM THE LIST OF PROSCRIBED SUBSTANCES and allow its production in the national territory for therapeutic and scientific purposes, following international conventions on the subject.

2. Guarantee the diversity of the means of production of Cannabis for therapeutic use, such as domestic, associative and commercial cultivation.

3. Include Cannabis sativa in the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia and fit it in the national form of herbal medicines.

4. Allow access to all forms of product presentation, from the fresh plant to the most modern technologies for administering medicines.

5. Prohibit the advertising and advertising of Cannabis products for medicinal purposes, as is already the case with controlled-use medical substances.

6. PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY, ALLOWING PATIENTS TO HAVE ACCESS TO GOOD QUALITY CANNABIS, IN A SAFE WAY.

In total, there are 14 principles.

Want to know more? Click here to access Repense’s website or download their booklet here!

Knowing actions that aim to guarantee the legal protection of users, whether of medicinal or therapeutic cannabis, is fundamental to create a more grounded dialogue in all layers of society. How about starting this change?