Biggest Medical Cannabis Farm in Latin America Inaugurated in Chile

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The biggest medical cannabis farm in Latin America has inaugurated in Chile on Tuesday. The region has started to grow its acceptance of the therapeutic uses of the previously illegal plant.

NBC News reported that the organizers have said that the plantation in Colbun, a small town that is about 170 miles (275 kilometers) in the southern part of Santiago, can help treat some 4,000 patients all over the country of Chile. This, however, becomes Chile's Congress debates in the decriminalization of small quantity of marijuana for personal cultivation and use.

The organizers also said that they will work closely with various universities and laboratories to unfold cannabis-based therapies, which can help patients suffering from chronic pain, cancer and epilepsy complications and other conditions or diseases.

Jakarta Globe also reported that the plantation has about 6,900 stalks that follow the project to work as an experiment in a secret location in Santiago, which is the capital of the country. As it is, the opinions on the use of marijuana have shifted in a traditionally conservative country like Chile. This is noted by Ana Maria Gazmuri, the head of the foundation behind this project. However, the center-left government at this time has also pushed for abortion and same-sex civil union reforms.

"This farm will further permit people to see for themselves the reality of the plant, and what its uses are," Gazmuri, who was also a 1980s TV soap opera star and an advocate of "holistic" medicine, said.

She also added that there are still some government officials that do not agree with this initiative, which is delaying approval and causing difficulties for her group.

"Regarding marriage equality, regarding cannabis, regarding abortion - the majority opinion is in favor of securing these rights," Gazmuri has also said.

In addition to this report, the project organizers are hoping to gather 1.65 tons of cannabis in the near future, between March and May. This harvest is going to be under the supervision of the Chilean government's agricultural service department.

Meanwhile, NBC News previously reported that Uruguay has moved to legalize fully the usage and cultivation of marijuana in 2013. It is the first country to introduce this step, which is closely watched by the world.

Moreover, in Mexico, the court ruling has opened the door to the limited quantities of legal cannabis growing in November 2015. President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia has just signed a decree that is legalizing medical cannabis in December. He said that what he did doesn't weaken their government's fight against those illicit crops and drug traffickers that are still out there.