Opinion – Cannabis Inc.: Parliamentary front asks for exemption from ICMS on medical cannabis

Products with more affordable prices are part of the struggle of patients who are treated with cannabis medicinal. The coordinator of the Parliamentary Front for Medicinal Cannabis and Industrial Hemp, Deputy Sérgio Victor (Novo-SP) knows this, so much so that he sent a letter to the state governor, where he suggests exemption from ICMS (Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services) on products derived from the plant. The fee is equivalent to 30% of the final price of the product.

It is a fact that the cannabis market is expanding. In the medium and long term, prices should become more attractive to consumers. In the last two years, Anvisa (Sanitary Surveillance Agency) has already approved the registration of 20 CBD extracts. But most of them have not yet reached the store shelves. And the sick cannot wait for market accommodation.

Two years ago, there was only one product on sale in pharmacies in the country, Mevatyl, by GW Pharma – which was the first laboratory to obtain sanitary approval for a product of cannabis, in 2017. The drug (with almost the same proportions of THC and CBD) is indicated for muscle stiffness and spasticity (congenital disorder in the central nervous system). The box with three 10 ml bottles costs around R$ 2,500.

Only in 2020, after changes in Anvisa’s regulation, the pharmaceutical company from Paraná, Prati-Donaduzzi, received the sanitary registration to market an extract of CBD (cannabidiol, a substance derived from the plant). A 30 ml glass, with a concentration of 200 mg/ml, indicated for refractory epilepsy, costs R$ 2,500. Then the company launched glasses with lower concentrations and therefore more affordable.

Another access route for patients is the individual importation of medicines, which is regulated by Anvisa. The shape increases the range of choice of brands and prices, but the consumer is held hostage to the exchange rate variation of the dollar, which is not advantageous for the Brazilian currency. Therefore, many Brazilians go to court to ask the State to take responsibility for the treatment.

In the document sent to the Government, Deputy Sérgio Victor recalls that the São Paulo government spent more than 20 million reais with the judicialization for the acquisition of cannabinoid-based products. According to him, “in addition, a request for information made by the Parliamentary Front in Defense of Medicinal Cannabis and Industrial Hemp to the Health Department points to a growth of more than 200% in the volume of judicialization between 2019 and 2021”. Victor highlights in the document that “the trend is for indicators to continue to rise as new clinical studies demonstrate the effectiveness of these products in treatments for various indications.”

Zeroing the tax is also, for Victor, a way of encouraging the development of the cannabis. Most of the 40 medicinal companies are in São Paulo and there is a need to encourage and fund more studies and research on the potential of treatments.

The deputy recalled that the State of São Paulo also concentrates the largest number of patients and doctors specialized in this type of therapy. Zeroing the tax on products from cannabis it is an indication that could be valid for the whole country and not just for São Paulo. If it was possible to change the ICMS on fuels, there is no reason not to do the same with a drug, which is fundamental for the quality of life of many patients.