FEATURE
LATIN
AMERICA
THE FUTURE CAPITAL
OF THE CBD WORLD?
FAVOURABLE LEGISLATION AND AN IDEAL CLIMATE
FOR GROWING SOUTH OF THE BORDER COULD PUT
NORTHERN COMPETITORS TO SHAME
By Leo Forfar
With CBD emerging as an international phenomenon and
inspiring hurried, Gold Rush-like fervour amongst everyone
from investors to retailers, there’s one massive region that’s
become impossible for the vape and CBD companies to
ignore.
Central and South America appear to have all the key
ingredients in abundance for a boom: land for production,
increasingly relaxed laws for trade, people for creation and
consumption, and most importantly, will.
A prominent power player is Mexico, which is taking advantage
of a recent series of legislative changes. Mexico legalised
medical marijuana in June 2017, with all products available for
purchase, personal use and distribution provided they were
less than one percent THC. In November 2018, the country
issued 38 distribution licenses to seven CBD companies, with
21 of them going to CBD Life.
The press release revealed that the ruling would make
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“Cannabis products like hemp-derived CBD available on the
shelves of general retailers across the nation. With 40,000
points of sale in its current distribution channels, CBD Life
is set to immediately distribute to over 4,000 of Mexico’s top
retailers and pharmacies.”
Raul Elizalde, President of HempMeds Latin America said:
“Cannabinoids with below one percent THC content can be
in medicine, supplements, lotions, food, anything. This is very,
very good for our country, and I think we’re one of the very first
in the world to take that path.”
Products are already diversifying. Rocky Mountain High
Brands, a subsidiary of CBD Life, is now the sole provider of
Mexico’s CBD-infused beverages.
Countries striking out in CBD appear to be following a pattern
beginning with marijuana legalisation for medicinal purposes,
followed by recreational ones. They owe it to arable farming
land. In February 2018, Colombian senator and pro-cannabis