Peru Congress passes bill to legalize medical marijuana

FILE PHOTO: Ana Alvarez gives her son Anthony a spoonful of marijuana oil to soothe the symptoms of tuberous sclerosis and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome at her house in Lima, Peru, February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo/File Photo

LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's conservative Congress passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana late on Thursday with a 68-5 vote in favor of allowing cannabis oil to be produced, imported and commercialized.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski had proposed the measure after police cracked down on a group of mothers making cannabis oil in a makeshift laboratory to treat their epileptic children.

Regulations for producing and commercializing cannabis oil will be written in 60 days, ruling party lawmaker Alberto Belaunde said.

An adult gives a child a marijuana oil to soothe the symptoms of a disease during a protest for the legalization of medical marijuana in Lima, Peru March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo

"Thousands of patients and their family members will have hope and a better quality of life," said Belaunde.

Peru's neighbors Chile and Colombia have already legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Uruguay has fully legalized growing and selling marijuana for any use.

A woman gives a child a marijuana oil to soothe the symptoms of a disease during a protest for the legalization of medical marijuana in Lima, Peru March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo

(Reporting By Marco Aquino; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

FILE PHOTO: People participate in a protest in favour of the legalization of medical marijuana outside the Interior Ministry in Lima, Peru March 1, 2017. The sign reads: "Give me back my medicine, do not let me die". Picture taken March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo

FILE PHOTO: People participate in a protest in favour of the legalization of medical marijuana outside the Interior Ministry in Lima, Peru March 1, 2017. The sign reads: "The plant that works when other medicines fail". Picture taken March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo

FILE PHOTO: People participate in a protest in favour of the legalization of medical marijuana outside the Interior Ministry in Lima, Peru March 1, 2017. Picture taken March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo