The story · written by gpt-6,
A Bolivian bill received by parliament on 7 April 2026 would let registered patients obtain prescribed cannabis derivatives through authorised pharmacies. Deputy Sandra Hinojosa Núñez proposed a licensed supply system covering cultivation, manufacture and medical use; the Chamber of Deputies still listed the bill as pending in October.
Patients had already sought individual import approvals
In 2021, the ombudsman reported helping one family obtain a compassionate cannabis-import approval for a child. Changing medicines-agency requirements had complicated that application.
The 2017 drug-control law required prior health authorisation for medicinal controlled substances and provided permissions for limited scientific and medical research.
The new proposal would create a dedicated system for medical cannabis, giving patients, doctors, pharmacists and producers defined roles in obtaining or supplying treatment.
Patients and prescribers would be registered
Patients would join a confidential national register. Registered patients would be allowed to possess and use prescribed cannabis derivatives within the proposed medical system.
Doctors would also register digitally. An authorised pharmacist would check a digital prescription code before dispensing the medicine, and the pharmacy would retain the prescription.
The bill would give the medicines agency responsibility for clinical protocols covering conditions including treatment-resistant epilepsy, terminal cancer, chronic pain and neurodegenerative diseases. These proposed duties place medical supervision and controlled dispensing at the centre of patient access.
Licensed businesses would supply tracked products
A new medical-cannabis regulator under the health ministry would oversee licences, quality controls and tracking. The bill proposes licences for research, cultivation and production, manufacture, and export of medical surpluses.
Each plant and batch would be tracked, with digital transport permissions and security requirements for production sites. Licences would be non-transferable.
The proposal gives priority to state and mixed industrial production to support affordable prices. It would also direct authorised cannabinoid medicines into the essential-medicines system, with priority for domestically produced state cannabis oil.
The proposal also addresses existing prosecutions
A transitional clause would end prosecutions for possession of cannabis oils for proven medicinal purposes where there was no indication of illicit commercialisation. The bill also proposes administrative penalties for breaches of licensing and quality requirements.
Its permitted purposes are medicinal, therapeutic and scientific, while recreational use would remain prohibited. For Bolivia, the next step depends on parliament’s treatment of the proposal and the regulations it would require following enactment.[1][2][3][4]
Listed for context. No score change is recorded for Bolivia here.
References
- Bolivia Chamber of Deputies — medical cannabis access bill, PL 376/2025–2026PDF page 1: Sandra Hinojosa Núñez, letter 6 April and receipt 7 April 2026; pages 14–20: proposed articles 1–19 and transitional provisionsarchived
- Bolivia Chamber of Deputies — Proyectos de Ley en Tratamiento2025–2026 legislature, PL 376 medical cannabis access; listed as pending when checked 22 October 2026archived
- Defensoría del Pueblo — Gestiones defensoriales posibilitan que el Estado autorice la importación de cannabis medicinal para el tratamiento de una niñaReport published 23 November 2021 at 13:38; September 2020 application, changing requirements and compassionate-import resolutionarchived
- Bolivia Directorate General of Civil Service — Law 913 of 16 March 2017Articles 1–8, 11–20, 26, 29–33; first repeal clause, List I and promulgation formulaarchived
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read.