Cannabis advocate blasts medicinal herb agency

Cannabis Barbados – the cannabis advocacy arm of the African Heritage Foundation (AHF) – has condemned the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Authority (BMCA) for failing to include the traditional and cultural medicinal use of the herb.

Head of the Foundation, Ras Simba Akoma, declared his organisation’s stance on Tuesday in response to BMCA Chief Executive Officer Shantal Munro-Knight, who on Sunday told a Christ Church East Central community meeting of the Barbados Labour Party that participants in the medicinal cannabis industry would only be able hire a security firm already licensed here.

Munro-Knight said: “Every single licensee will have to have security, regardless of if they are doing a one acre, two acre, three acre, small plot, big plot, it doesn’t matter. They must have security… different levels of security…security cameras… some of them. If you are talking about that four acres, which is a vast track of land, we are going to record them to ensure they have manned security. We actually have specifications in terms of the camera pixels. They have to have lighting, some of them will need dogs.”

But Ras Akoma delivered a caution to Munro Knight and her team, saying they “should not be deluded into believing that any amount of security measures will prevent cannabis from the medicinal cannabis industry entering into the illegal market”.

The pro-cannabis activist said: “Due to Mrs Munro-Knight, her political party and her team of directors’ willful refusal to acknowledge and facilitate the cultural medicinal use of the cannabis plant, the absence of any tangible and just inclusion of the people who have been historically abused and marginalized for preserving the narrative that cannabis has valuable medicinal properties, the writing can be seen clearly on the wall.

“The same people that you endeavour to oppress by your putrid exclusive cannabis regulations, are the same ones that will be employed in your industry, Mrs Munro-Knight. I am one of those people who have been distastefully marginalized within the whole cannabis conversation even though I speak very loudly and clearly on the matter.”

Ras Akoma said he was also one of the people assisting in the training of security dogs that will secure “a foreigner’s medical cannabis from other marginalized people like myself”.

He declared: “The security companies will be operated by workers, many of whom are underpaid and use cannabis. These people are marginalized and would like nothing more than to manifest the words of the popular soca tune, ‘Do fah do’. Who will guard the guards?

“No amount of seed to sale tracking, cameras, security personnel with dogs, police patrols and electric fences will prevent the element of the marginalized, disgruntled, dehumanized human from enacting their own forms of cannabis justice.

“The only true security for a cannabis facility in Barbados is love. The love that would admit wrongs done, and would see just resolve implemented. I spoke at a town hall meeting at Queen’s College and said to Mrs. Munro-Knight and Minister Weir that cannabis has a heart. Not only does it have a heart, the heart is filled with love. As such, creating any cannabis industry void of love will have serious repercussions.” (EJ)