Mothers of Plaza de Mayo leader Nora Cortinas: "Thanks to cannabis, I can still march"

In an interview with the Buenos Aires online journal Infobae, Mothers of Plaza de Mayo leader Nora Cortiñas revealed that "thanks to cannabis, I can still march."

"I told someone my left leg hurt a lot," the renowned, 89 year-old Argentine human rights advocate recalled. "That person mentioned to me that cannabis could help me."

Cortiñas co-founded the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo days after losing her then-24 year-old son, Carlos, in April 1977 - at the depths of the Dirty War against dissidents.

According to dictatorship officials themselves, at least 22,000 perished from 1975 to 1978. They are known worldwide as the "disappeared."

Forty-two years of marches on the Plaza de Mayo (the square facing Argentina's presidential offices) and elsewhere in the Mothers' quest for justice took their toll however:

Frequent leg, hip, and sciatic pain threatened to sideline the tireless Mrs. Cortiñas, or to relying on a wheelchair. She credits her friend's gift of a container of cannabis cream for her recovery.

"I started applying it, and within a month or two, the pain subsided. When I get severe sciatic nerve pain, I apply it and in a couple of days it calms the pain. It works."

While Cortiñas "never liked the idea of marijuana," she revealed she now keeps a few plants at home and has become a vocal advocate for its medicinal use.

High-handed tactics

Argentina legalized cannabis oil for medicinal purposes in 2017 - a bill signed by President Mauricio Macri but opposed by his hard-line Security Minister, Patricia Bullrich.

Bullrich was recently revealed by the ongoing 'Extortiongate' case (into the alleged use of intelligence services to both frame opponents and extract payoffs) to target cannabis and narcotics for political credit.

"Bullrich is so ignorant that she says any nonsense," Cortiñas asserted. "She's only good at repression, brutality and to buy weapons - but she doesn't know the reality of health in Argentina."

Former President José “Pepe” Mujica made neighboring Uruguay, in 2013, the first nation in the world to legalize the cultivation, sale, and use of marijuana - medicinal or not.

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Mothers of Plaza de Mayo leader Nora Cortiñas gives a thumbs up during a 2017 march commemorating the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the renowned human rights advocacy group.

The 89 year-old Cortiñas, who in 1977 lost her 24 year-old son to the dictatorship's Dirty War against dissidents, feared that worsening chronic pain would sideline her from future marches.

A friend's gift of cannabis cream changed all that. "I wish I could buy it in the pharmacy," she says.