July 9, 2023 by Laura Ramos, CannaReporter
The legalization of cannabis in Portugal has been a long and winding road, which has been traveled for more than a decade, with the Bloco de Esquerda (BE) leading the odyssey to reach the much-desired destination. However, in recent years, almost all parties have been converging in the same direction, albeit with different ideologies. BE and IL (Liberal Initiative) have appointed September as the month to start the discussion in Parliament, but nothing has yet been confirmed. Is this the year when white smoke comes out of the Assembly of the Republic?
Year 2023. It is practically consensual that the legalization of adult use should happen this year in Portugal. We just don’t know yet when or how. With two bills (PL) presented in this legislature to the Assembly of the Republic (AR) — that of the Left Block (BE) and that of the Liberal Initiative (IL), and it is not yet clear whether the PAN – People-Animals-Natureza and the PS (Socialist Party) will do the same, the submission for debate in plenary is not yet foreseen. There are those who say that it could be as early as September, but nothing is certain yet.
BE was the first and the one that most often submitted bills to the Assembly of the Republic for the adult use of cannabis to be regulated. To date, none of them has seen the light of the Diário da República, but the issue of cannabis legalization has long been a consensus in the hemicycle of the Portuguese Parliament.
