This report, prepared by the foreign law specialists and analysts of the Law Library of Congress, provides a review of laws adopted in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, and Uruguay with regard to decriminalization of narcotics, and touches specifically on cannabis and legalization.

Attitudes in Latin America are shifting away from supporting prohibitionist policies, but they are far from consensus and the policy implications are unclear.

Sentiments in Latin America in favor of outlawing marijuana appear to be undergoing shifts in some countries, according to researchers in Chile and the UK.

A study published the International Journal of Drug Policy found that, in some parts of the region, more than 40% of respondents supported legalizing the drug, while in other, more conservative areas, support remained minimal.

All around the world, different countries are considering the question of whether to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, as well as the growing of hemp for industrial uses. There have been any number of reports and studies to gain support for this movement showing that medical cannabis provides relief from a vast array of illness. Hemp is a product with an astonishing number of uses, as well as actually contributing to the safeguard of rain forests and replenishing of the soil.

Costa Rica has seen an increase in cannabis growing operations that use more sophisticated cultivation methods, a possible result of increased demand fueled by foreign visitors looking for higher-quality marijuana.

According to a report by La Nación, in the last 13 years Costa Rican authorities have dismantled 41 laboratories where marijuana was being cultivated with hydroponics.

It’s a beautiful place for marijuana.

Costa Rica has an established history as a haven for liberal ideas, happy people, and gorgeous scenery. The country is one of the most environmentally friendly places in the world with 25% of the nation’s acreage protected from industrial development of any kind. It also disbanded its armed forced is the 1940’s, has fabulous healthcare, and a great education system.

The Council for the International Promotion of Costa Rica Medicine will host the Latin America Medical Cannabis Conference in Costa Rican on July 27-29th as part of ExpoMed series.

PROMED is a private not-for-profit organization, which coordinates the quality control and international promotion efforts of the medical tourism industry. Its goal is to ensure the quality of services provided by the private health industry in Costa Rica as the country becomes a major center for global medicine and medical tourism.

While much of the focus on legalizing marijuana is on the United State there are countries making real progress South of the border.

The Supreme Court in Mexico handed down a landmark ruling in November that declared overall prohibition unconstitutional. The case was brought by four individual citizens. The arguments were not some long list of regulatory details but instead a more fundamental question of basic human rights.

Costa Rica took a step towards becoming the next Latin American country to decriminalize cannabis this week, when attorney Mario Alberto Cerdas Salazar was cleared of cultivation charges on grounds of individual liberties.

Cerdas Salazar was arrested at his home in the city of Alajuela in August, after publicly advocating for a personal right to use and cultivate cannabis for medicinal and gastronomic purposes. He was charged with "drug trafficking," and has been held since.

“We were having dinner—my daughter, grandchild, and me,” says Ramona, a 67-year-old Mexican woman who is serving a sentence of four-and-a-half years in one of Mexico’s most dangerous prisons. “I was lying on the couch watching a soap opera … when I realized that there were several men inside the house yelling at me to hand over the drugs.”

The police, wearing masks, ransacked Ramona’s house and allegedly stole her personal belongings before hauling her off to the prosecutor’s office. They claimed they had witnessed her selling marijuana and crack cocaine to a man, though the man himself said he had never seen her before.