AGUERITO, Paraguay, Feb 21 (Reuters) – A marijuana harvest pageant in a area of Paraguay often recognized for drug trafficking has sparked hopes from native farmers that legalization may comply with that can permit them to develop the plant for medicinal use.
The agricultural group of Aguerito, in jap Paraguay, welcomed tons of of holiday makers over the weekend for a “hashish tour” of farms which might be working in a grey space: hashish for medicinal use has been authorized within the nation since 2017, however it should be imported. Native cultivation will not be at the moment licensed.
The farmers who hosted the occasion are a part of a gaggle who’ve deserted conventional agriculture, playing on rising weed. They hope the pageant will catch the attention of lawmakers, encouraging them to again new laws to assist small farms.
A invoice aiming to regularize the budding trade, from seeds to sale, was offered to Congress on the finish of 2022, however it’s unclear if it’s going to move.
Paraguay is already a serious international producer of illegally-sold hashish, exporting largely to neighboring Brazil and different South American international locations.
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“There was already marijuana within the space once we arrived right here 32 years in the past,” mentioned farmer Eulalio Lopez. “However we had been afraid to work with it, we did not even discuss it again then. It was only a ‘weed.'”
Only a handful of labs import hashish into Paraguay for authorized medicinal use, however promote it at exorbitant costs, mentioned Jorge Rolon, the farmers’ authorized adviser.
“Our nation has great potential,” he mentioned, touting the South American nation’s wealthy soil and potent product. “It is a chance Paraguay cannot miss.”
Reporting by Cesar Olmedo for Reuters TV; Writing by Daniela Desantis and Kylie Madry; Enhancing by Rosalba O’Brien
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