As part of a government-approved pilot project, which seeks to aid in easing the pain of cancer patients, a Chilean municipality is harvesting legal medical marijuana.

The Latin American country initially planted the cannabis for medical use in October of last year, and the first harvest is now ready.

The effort to employ medicinal marijuana for the alleviation of suffering is due to the combined strategies of a municipality in the capital of Santiago and the Daya Foundation, a nonprofit group that sponsors therapies to relieve pain.

As quoted in The Associated Press, Ana Maria Gazmuri, the president of Daya, has stated that "We're laying the foundations for what will be the national production of medical cannabis."

The plants are imported from the Netherlands, and the plan is that the oil extracted from approximately half of the 850 imported plants will be given out to 200 patients in the upcoming months.

Typically the planting, selling, and transporting of marijuana is illegal in Chile, where conviction for dealing with the illegal drug could carry a prison terms of up to 15 years.

Chilean law, however, allows for the medical use of marijuana with the authorization of several state ministries.

Restrictions on marijuana for medical or personal use appear to be easing across the globe.

As it stands now, more than 20 states in the U.S. allow for some form of medical marijuana, while Colorado and Washington have legalized the drug for personal use.

In 2013, Uruguay became the first Latin American nation to create a legal marijuana market for pot.

Cecilia Heyder, a woman who suffers from systemic lupus and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, calls Chile’s movement toward medicinal marijuana “a huge achievement."

"I just wish all of Chile's municipalities could achieve this as well," she said.