[Medical Cannabis Program in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. A comprehensive model of public management]

The scientific, technological, and economic development of medicinal cannabis requires the evolution of public regulations and policies that address the phenomenon of the rediscovery of the scientific and therapeutic power of medicinal cannabis of pharmaceutical quality. To address the problem of the non-existence of cannabisderived products from the national industry with health approval, the Government of Jujuy decided to implement a comprehensive state approach to public health. In this article we develop the central axes of a management model, which includes the creation of a legal and institutional framework, the implementation of a health program that includes professional training, research and the preparation of scientific evidence of high quality, within the framework of a program for the public production of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis that covers the entire production chain, from cultivation to pharmaceutical preparation and subsequent distribution in pharmacies under international standards of good practice. The program has been in force since 2017, focusing on the challenges of a developing national regulatory landscape that coexists with the stigmatization of the cannabis plant in the social and medical framework, the difficulties of financing and the scarce world evidence in effective health plans of medical cannabis. Our experience can collaborate with other health administrators, with similar or different socio-demographics and regulatory environment, to resolve barriers to access to medical cannabis and improve the conditions of patients who require it.