Marijuana payment plan for investors

Applicants approved for a medical cannabis licence will have the option of paying for it in up three installments.

Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA) Dr Shantal Munro-Knight made the disclosure on Wednesday, noting that applications for licences should be open in early January.

“One of the things that is important to understand is that yes, the medicinal cannabis industry itself is expensive. There is no getting away from that. However, we are putting things in place to allow participation from every level of person who wants to participate in the industry,” she said.

“If you look at our fees, they cover five years. So a tier 1 cultivator licence which is about $29,700 is really less than $6,000 per year and that total is inclusive of costs like compliance inspections and costs for track and trace. What we are doing is looking to have that licence fee paid over a period of time. So a person with a cultivator licence tier 1 will be able to pay the $29,700 in three installments,” she explained.

There are four cultivation tiers and the licensing fees for each will vary.

The fees will also vary for the various applications, which include laboratory, research and development, retail distributor and processor.

Dr Munro-Knight said the option to pay in installments will “help to level the playing field”.

“In this industry we consider the average Barbadian being able to participate in relation not only to the licences – because there is the cost of set-up, security and everything else – but this will be an inclusive and integrative as stated in our core values,” she said.

She again called on Barbadians to think about pooling resources and entering the industry as a collective.

On Tuesday, the BMCLA launched its new social media portals, as officials move ahead with the full implementation of the industry.

Dr Munro-Knight said this move demonstrated the BMCLA’s commitment to connect with customers and stakeholders and keep them up-to-date while increasing awareness.

It is hoped that the new social media portals, along with the website, will provide valuable, user-friendly information about the medical cannabis industry. (PR/MM)