Legislation legalizing medical cannabis in Paraguay has been signed into law by President Horacio Cartes.

President Cartes’ signature on the bill comes a little over a month after it was overwhelmingly approved by the nation’s Congress.

The new law legalizes the medical use of cannabis and cannabis oils, removing the plant from the nation’s most dangerous drugs list. Production will be locally regulated, and imports on medical cannabis oils will be allowed. Qualified patients will need to registered with the Ministry of Public Health’s National Mandatory Registry of Users of Products Derived.

The law has a provision that allows patients to receive medical cannabis for free if they participate in research programs on the medical efficacy of the plant.

With passage of the new law Paraguay joins several other South American countries that allow medical cannabis, namely Peru, Chile, Argentina and Colombia. Uruguay has legalized cannabis for all uses.