Mexico gives 2 more permits to import medicinal cannabis

The Mexican government is letting the parents of two more sick girls import a cannabis-derived medicine for their treatment.

The Federal Health Commission says in a statement that it has authorized the parents' requests to bring hemp oil into the country.

In a landmark decision last year, a judge ordered the government to allow the parents of another girl suffering from a severe form of epilepsy to import a similar product.

That ruling did not establish a general legal right to import medical cannabis.

But the new approvals announced Monday indicate a willingness to OK such petitions without an explicit court order to do so. The commission says it aims to "accelerate patients' access to alternative treatments."

Recently Mexico launched a formal debate on the use of medicinal cannabis