Chile Inaugurates the biggest Cannabis Farm in Latin America, Fully Embracing Medical Marijuana [Treatments]

Chile takes another step towards accepting the therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana as it inaugurates the biggest cannabis farm in Latin America.

According to Reuters, the plantation is located in the small town of Colbun, located south of Santiago, about 275 kilometers from the Chilean capital.

It contains some 6,900 stalks of the previously illegal plant, and is forecasted to yield about 1.65 tons of marijuana this year within three months -- from March to May.

Organizers headed by former TV soap opera actress Ana Maria Gazmuri said that the project is aimed to help about 4,000 patients all over Chile get better through the use of medical cannabis.

"This farm will further permit people to see for themselves the reality of the plant, and what its uses are," the 'holistic' medicine advocate told Reuters.

She further emphasized the weight of this development, considering how the traditionally conservative country is now becoming more radical about the use of the addicting substance.

The inauguration of Latin America's biggest cannabis farm comes in the wake of the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana for personal use and cultivation, approved by Congress.

Before the massive marijuana farm was established, La Florida district in the Chilean capital, housed an experimental plantation that was previously kept confidential.

According to BBC, the cannabis harvested from this was turned into oil to be used as a painkiller for some 200 cancer patients.

So far, the biggest step any country has ever taken towards the legal use of marijuana began in Uruguay, where recreational marijuana cultivation was legalized back in 2013, per a report from Sun Times.

This development was closely watched all over the world. It has even sparked similar moves from other Hispanic countries like Mexico, where limited amounts of marijuana could be cultivated legally as of November. In Columbia, President Juan Manuel Santos passed a decree that legalized medical cannabis amidst the government's stern fight against drug trafficking.

Several studies cited by Life Hack have explained the medical uses of marijuana.

According to a study published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, the Cannabidiol or the CBD -- the component of marijuana that gets the user high -- has been found to switch off a gene known as Id-1, thereby stopping the cancer cells from spreading. 

The marijuana ingredient known as tetrahydrocannabinol or THC is also found to impede the progression of Alzheimer's disease, according to a 2006 study conducted by Scripps Research Institute's Kim Janda.

Other medical benefits of marijuana include acting as a painkiller for patients with multiple sclerosis, lessening tremors of people with Parkinson's disease, controlling epileptic seizures, relieving arthritis, and many more.