"What I wasn't prepared for," Roland Griffiths says, "is people would come in two months later and I would say, 'Well, so what do you think of the experience?' And they'd say ... 'It was one of the most important experiences in my life.' "
The president has previously expressed his desire to see the marijuana -- the most commonly used illegal drug in Costa Rica -- further decriminalized and has expressed frustrations with the war on drugs and its impact on Central America.
Citizen Action Party lawmaker Marvin Atencio wants to make Costa Rica the first country in Central America to legalize medical marijuana and generate millions of dollars for public institutions along the way.
The Legislative Assembly next week will discuss and vote on a second and final round of debate a bill that will allow research on human subjects in Costa Rica.
