By Steven Voser


Argentina is renowned for its steaks, fine wines, legendary footballers, Pope Francis, and a seemingly endless economic crisis. It is also the second-largest country in South America and arguably the most socially liberal: Argentina was the second country in The Americas to legalize gay marriage over ten years ago, and close to 50% of Argentines supported the legalization of abortion in 2020, which is impressive for a South American country and a society where close to 80% of people identify as Catholic.

And when it comes to cannabis, Argentina is equally accepting; since 2021, Argentina has legalized the cultivation and possession of cannabis for registered individuals. Moreover, the country now allows the purchase of cannabis seeds, provided you meet the requirements of the National Cannabis Registry and the National Seed Institue. Keep reading to learn more about legal weed in Argentina.

2022 - A Year for Change

2022 has seen a significant shift in Argentina's legal cannabis industry. With a handful of approved cannabis seeds now legal to buy and the National Cannabis Registry in full effect, the country is beginning to embrace a green revolution. However, it wasn't always this way, with the first major steps toward cannabis legality taken over two years ago.

2020 was the beginning of big changes for Argentine cannabis users. On July 15th, the Government published a draft of big regulatory changes to the nation's medical weed law, bill 27.350. The draft made big promises, including the right for registered patients to grow their own cannabis at home, a proposed (yet not very detailed) framework for the public production and sale of medical cannabis products, and free public access to cannabis-based therapies. Soon after, the government started setting at least part of these proposed changes in motion.

A year later, individuals, health professionals, and non-government bodies could register with REPROCANN, Argentina's new national cannabis registry (Registro Nacional del Programa de Cannabis). Any person or organization registered with the program can legally cultivate, possess, and consume cannabis. There are basically three different ways to gain access to REPROCANN in Argentina;

  • As an individual who cultivates cannabis for themselves. In this case, you need to get assessed by a medical professional who'll file a request on your behalf to be allowed to grow, possess, and use cannabis for medical purposes.
  • As an individual who cultivates cannabis for another registered patient.
  • As an NGO that cultivates cannabis on behalf of its patients.

Cannabis in Argentina

Buying cannabis seeds legally in Argentina

Cultivating and consuming cannabis legally is a significant step forward, but how can individuals get hold of seeds? Well, in a recent update, the commercialisation of cannabis seeds in Argentina was made legal, meaning, in theory, anyone who lives there can buy them without the need for documentation.

Now, we say ‘in theory’ because possession and planting of cannabis seeds is still a criminal offence unless individuals have registered with the aforementioned cannabis registry (REPROCANN).

Moreover, the situation gets a little trickier with the types of seeds you can buy, as these must be registered with INASE (the National Seed Institue), and the registration only lasts a year before renewal. The good news, however, is that the law doesn’t specify the cannabinoid content of seeds, meaning the Argentinian cannabis industry is open to high-THC, High-CBD and everything in-between.

Currently, there are four approved varieties of cannabis, with another 77 under review. Encouragingly, these provisions will also extend to grow shops, and they will only need to meet a few basic requirements to sell the approved seed types. This change to buying cannabis seeds also represents a major step forward for medical programs and research, removing the need to import seeds from abroad.

How Does Argentina’s Cannabis Program (REPROCANN) Work?

In many ways, Argentina's medical cannabis program stands out quite dramatically from other medical cannabis programs in place around the world. Most notably, there is no list of qualifying conditions under Argentina's REPROCANN.

Instead, patients can register any use of cannabis they consider therapeutic. This is quite a strong contrast to other medicinal cannabis programs like those in place in certain US states, which only consider patients with serious illnesses such as cancer, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, or PTSD, for example. Some common therapeutic uses of cannabis that Argentine patients list in their REPROCANN applications include, for example:

  • Sleep improvements
  • Relief from generalized anxiety and stress
  • Improved appetite
  • Mild pain management

Moreover, Argentina's REPROCANN allows patients to possess and grow generous amounts of cannabis. Individuals enlisted in REPROCANN, for example, are allowed to grow nine flowering plants and an unlimited amount of vegetating plants indoors (in a grow space no larger than 6m2) and outside (in a space no larger than 15m2).

Individuals can also possess up to 40g of dried cannabis flowers in public or up to 6 30ml bottles of cannabis tincture/extract. There is also no limit on the amount of cannabis a patient can have in their home. On the other hand, a registered NGO can grow up to 9 plants per patient for a maximum of 150 registered patients.

As we’ve previously highlighted, REPROCANN makes no distinctions regarding the types of cannabis a patient can possess or cultivate. That means all strains and varieties of cannabis are fair game, including both high CBD and high THC strains.

Argentina's Reprocann

What other benefits are there to REPROCANN in Argentina?

Besides being able to grow and possess cannabis legally, REPROCANN patients can also:

• Transport cannabis on flights or other modes of transport across Argentina.

• Demand legal consequences should their plants, flower, or tinctures get stolen.

• Get prescriptions for cannabis or cannabis derivatives from public health professionals.

What Are the Downfalls of Argentina’s REPROCANN?

Like most legal cannabis frameworks, Argentina's REPROCANN is far from short of criticism. After all, it only covers the therapeutic use of cannabis and doesn't fully legalize or decriminalize cannabis for everyone. Cannabis is still illegal in Argentina, and getting caught with plants or whatever a police officer considers a "large amount" of cannabis in public can get you arrested and sentenced to a court hearing.

Another common criticism of Argentina's REPROCANN program is that it makes no clear comment on the legality of possessing and using edibles and cannabis extracts such as hash, for example. While REPROCANN places no restrictions on how patients consume cannabis, its guidelines only ever mention cannabis plants, dried flowers, or liquid tinctures.

Finally, and arguably one of the biggest criticisms of Argentina's REPROCANN is the failure of law enforcement to be informed of the program and the legal rights it offers patients. To this day, registered REPROCANN patients get busted or held up for transporting or growing cannabis by law enforcement officials who haven't been properly educated on the program and its scope.

What Was Argentina’s Stance on Cannabis Before REPROCANN?

Argentina has a rich cannabis culture, and many (especially young) Argentines regularly consume cannabis. In fact, cannabis has deep roots throughout South America. Before the establishment of the REPROCANN program, however, cannabis laws in Argentina were somewhat hard to understand.

Under article 77 of Argentina's penal code, cannabis is a listed schedule substance and producing, selling, or simply possessing cannabis can result in a jail sentence of up to 14 years. In 2009, however, an iconic Supreme Court ruling (then known as the Arriola Ruling) declared it unconstitutional to penalize the possession of drugs for personal consumption.

More specifically, the Supreme Court ruled that the personal consumption of drugs in private is protected by article 19 of Argentina's constitution, which reads: "The private actions of men that in no way offend public order and morals or harm a third party are only reserved to God, and exempt from the authority of magistrates." Unfortunately, the Arriola Ruling (now known as the Arriola Failure) failed to produce any legislative changes to Argentina's drug laws.

Before 2021, there were some attempts and progress in changing Argentina's stance on cannabis. Most notably, 2017 marked the birth of Argentina's medical cannabis law, bill 27.350, which began putting in place some legal frameworks to allow legal access to therapeutic cannabis.

For a long time, however, the law really only extended to people with rare refractory cases of epilepsy and only covered treatments with Charlotte's Web brand tinctures (which patients had to import into the country and pay up to 50% import taxes on).

Following the creation of REPROCANN, Argentina's government also announced draft legislative changes to federal laws on the industrial use of cannabis and hemp in May 2022. While the details of these draft bills haven't been confirmed, the government is touting the sheer economic potential of opening Argentina's doors to a legal cannabis industry.

Criticism of Argentina's Cannabis Law

Cannabis in Argentina: A Space of Constant Growth

Cannabis is an active part of both Argentina's culture and medical practice. Luckily, federal legislation is starting to reflect this and is making it easier for people to access cannabis for a wide variety of purposes.

While the current state of cannabis laws in Argentina still leaves a lot to be desired (especially for people who want access to the plant without registering as a patient), recent years have seen some major changes worth celebrating. As time goes on, hopefully, Argentina will continue to serve as a role model for liberal policy.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: