cannabis

After years of cycling through anti-convulsive medications, the family of an 8-year-old girl debilitated by seizures is now desperate to try a marijuana oil that has helped American children in similar conditions.

For many Costa Ricans, marijuana legalization conjures images of dreadlocked hippies lying in hammocks getting baked. This perception is precisely what CannaCosta 2015, Central America's first annual conference about the medicinal and industrial uses of cannabis and hemp, tried to change.

However, a bill to legalize medicinal marijuana could be discussed and voted on in the Legislative Assembly as early as next month.

Latin American countries have been slow to follow Uruguay's lead in legalizing pot. A 2014 survey in Costa Rica found that 53 percent of the population supported the use of medical marijuana.