Law 17,618: medical cannabis in São Paulo's SUS

São Paulo State Law 17,618, of January 31, 2023, created in São Paulo a policy for the free supply, through the SUS (Brazil's public health system), of cannabidiol-based medicines, including in combination with other cannabinoids such as THC, on an exceptional basis. It originated in bill 1,180/2019 of the Legislative Assembly (Alesp) and was signed by Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, with vetoes to part of the text.

What happened

The bill moved through Alesp from 2019 and became law on the last day of January 2023. The text establishes the state policy for the free supply of these medicines at state public health facilities and at private facilities contracted with the SUS.

Key points of the law:

• supply is exceptional, for patients with a medical indication;
• the policy provides for studies and international references to adapt the subject to the state's public health rules;
• the Health Department was to create, within 30 days, a working committee with technical staff and representatives of cannabis support and research associations and of patient associations;
• the law took effect 90 days after publication.

The governor vetoed articles that set beneficiary criteria and funding obligations, citing separation of powers and budget rules, according to coverage by Migalhas. Along the same lines, the government argued that supplying unregistered products through lawsuits creates pressure on the budget and a lack of safety protocol, and that an organized policy is the alternative.

The regulation came at the end of the same year, with Decree 68,233, and implementation in São Paulo's SUS began afterward.

Why it matters

Before the law, anyone who needed a cannabis product and could not pay had, almost always, a single path: the courts. Each family filed a lawsuit, each judge decided differently, and the state bought without planning. Law 17,618 replaced this case-by-case logic with a public policy with a protocol.

The law also put São Paulo at the center of a national debate. At a hearing in the Chamber of Deputies in November 2023, Deputy Chico Alencar pointed out the contradiction of state laws ordering the SUS to distribute medical cannabis bought through imports at very high cost, while domestic cultivation remained blocked. That tension only began to be resolved with the STJ's 2024 decision and Anvisa's 2026 resolutions.

At Alesp, the subject gained a parliamentary front dedicated to medical cannabis and industrial hemp, coordinated by Deputy Caio França, which follows the policy's implementation and advocates research at São Paulo's public universities.

In Bairo's view

São Paulo is where Xperienc's clinical partner is located. For Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez, Law 17,618 shows that access does not have to be a privilege of those who can pay or of those who have a lawyer. A policy with a protocol, criteria and follow-up is fairer than a thousand isolated lawsuits.

For Bairo, the challenge the law leaves is one of information. Patients need to know whether their case qualifies, doctors need to know the protocol, and administrators need data to assess what works. Without that, the policy stays on paper. That is exactly where he sees room for technology in the service of access, always with the health professional at the center.

Where this meets the ecosystem

Xperienc Global Labs, founded by Bairo in London, proposes bringing together laboratories, teleconsultation with a clinical assistant validated by a professional and the Global Language translator for a second clinical opinion, not a medical report. The clinical partner in São Paulo is Hospital Granja Julieta, a separate company, which plans a wing for cannabinoid protocols under medical supervision.

What science already knows about the conditions covered by policies like this one is in The plant and the science. If you want to know whether you are entitled, the first step is to talk to the doctor who follows your case.

Sources

• Alesp, text of Law 17,618 of 01/31/2023: al.sp.gov.br
• Migalhas, "Nova lei de SP garante fornecimento de remédio à base de canabidiol" (New São Paulo law guarantees supply of cannabidiol-based medicine), 02/01/2023: migalhas.com.br
• Alesp, "Frente defende pesquisa e regulamentação da cannabis medicinal e do cânhamo industrial" (Front advocates research and regulation of medical cannabis and industrial hemp), 08/22/2024: al.sp.gov.br
• CNN Brasil, "Cannabis para fins medicinais: com projeto parado desde 2021, Câmara debate regulamentação de cultivo" (Cannabis for medical purposes: with a bill stalled since 2021, the Chamber debates regulating cultivation), 11/29/2023: cnnbrasil.com.br

Read also

• Decree 68,233: how São Paulo regulated cannabis in the SUS
• PL 399/2015: medical cannabis stalled in the Chamber
• RDCs 1,013, 1,014 and 1,015: what Anvisa changed