Seven companies in Panama were granted licenses to manufacture medical cannabis products after a lengthy evaluation by the country’s Dirección Nacional de Farmacia y Drogas, or the National Directorate of Pharmacy and Drugs.

These are the first cannabis manufacturing licenses awarded since the Central American country legalized medical cannabis in October 2021.

According to the Panama News Agency, the seven companies are:

• Canna Med Panama.
• Consorcio Adeiwa Pharma.
• Consorcio Ecovid.
• Consorcio Green Med.
• Consorcio Panamericana de Cannabis.
• Consorcio Tilray Panama.
• Farma Verde Corp.

Regulations around cannabis consumption and access for therapeutic, medical, veterinary, scientific and research purpose were adopted in 2022 via two separate executive decrees by President Laurentino Cortizo.

The rules are applicable to legal companies that import, export, cultivate and market cannabis and its derivatives for medical or scientific purposes.

Among other things, the decrees:

• List the health conditions that qualify for medical cannabis use, which include Alzheimer’s, cancer, HIV and arthritis.
• Establish that licensed doctors can prescribe cannabis after receiving specialized training.
• Establish a patient registry.
• Stipulate that the National Directorate of Pharmacies and Drugs is the regulator for import/export.
• Create the National Directorate for the Monitoring of Activities Related to Medicinal Cannabis.

“Panama has one of the strongest regulations at the regional level for the consumption of cannabis for medicinal and therapeutic purposes, and thus provide relief to thousands of patients who have waited for this solution for many years,” the president said in a statement at the time.