Medical marijuana farm blooms in conservative Chile
Tue Apr 28, 2015 11:14am EDT
Medical marijuana farm blooms in conservative Chile
SANTIAGO, April 28 | By Rosalba O'Brien
(Reuters) - Latin America's first medical marijuana farm has taken root in a dusty yard at a secret location in Chile's capital, with the blessing of a prominent right-wing official and high hopes the idea could sprout elsewhere in the socially conservative nation.
A debut crop of around 100 kilos (221 lbs) of prime cannabis bud - with a value of $2 million on the street - was harvested this month from the farm in La Florida, a middle-class Santiago neighborhood, and sent to a laboratory for processing.
The project is the brainchild of a curious alliance between Rodolfo Carter, a right-wing municipal mayor with progressive tendencies, and a privately-funded foundation ran by Ana Maria Gazmuri, a 1980s TV soap star who is now an advocate for alternative "holistic" medicine.
Scientists plan to extract the active ingredients from the cannabis for use in the treatment of 200 cancer patients who signed up via the local healthcare system or through the foundation.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/28/chile-cannabis-idUSL1N0XO2GV20150428?rpc=401