Page 20 - AWEMAINTA
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20 AWEMainta Diasabra, 15 Februari 2020
Letter to the Editor
LEGALIZATION
OF CANNABIS
AND CANNABIS
DERIVED
PRODUCTS IN
ARUBA: AN
UPDATE
Richie Kock advocaten/
attorneys AUA y SXM
THE Aruba government has taken a first Supplements, if not considered medicine,
step toward the legalization of Cannabis and may be sold over the counter without a pre-
Cannabis derived products in Aruba by le- scription.In the meantime, the resolution
galizing Cannabidiol (CBD) containing a which labels mentioned CBD products as a
maximum of 0.2% THC, i.e. the psychoactive supplement has been retracted.
substance in Cannabis that causes the ‘high’ The above is in line with a report dated July
effect. 3rd, 2019 from the Ministry of Health and
approved by the Council of Ministers (Start-
In December of 2019, a ministerial regula- nota Medicinale Cannabis), which acknowl-
tion was issued which excludes CBD prod- edges the therapeutic benefits of Medicinal
ucts with no more than 0.2% THC from the Cannabis and aims to provide patients in
legal definition of an illegal substance as de- Aruba with the option to choose for alterna-
fined by the Aruba drugs Ordinance (Lands- tive medicine, including Medicinal Cannabis.
verordening verdovende middelen), effective-
ly making said products legal. Notwithstanding the above, the country’s
Concurrently, two other ministerial regula- financial deficit and the pressure exercised
tions were issued which label CBD products by the Dutch government on the Aruba gov-
with a maximum of 0.2% THC as a medi- ernment to cancel said deficit plays a cru-
cine or as a supplement, respectively. cial role in the legalization process. Case in
point: the expected revenues from the issu-
Aforementioned distinction is relevant, be- ance of licenses for the cultivation of Canna-
cause a medical prescription is only required bis in Aruba were included in the budget for
for medicine as defined in the Ordinance on the year 2020.
the provision of medicine (Landsverordening The recreational use of Cannabis is still il-
geneesmiddelenvoorziening). legal in Aruba.
