BMCLA says not all offenders blocked from medicinal cannabis industry

Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA) Senator Shanika Roberts-Odle is making it clear that persons convicted of minor drug offences are still allowed to participate in the medicinal cannabis industry.
She was responding to attorney-at-law Rasheed Belgrave who argued that the section of the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Act which prevents anyone who has a drug-related conviction from getting a licence to legally participate in the industry should be repealed.
Under the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Act 2019, a person who has been convicted of an indictable offence under the Drug Abuse (Prevention and Control) Act, the Proceeds and Instrumentalities of Crimes Act, or any other similar enactment creating offences for illegal drugs and for the proceeds gained from such illegal drugs in Barbados or any other country shall not be eligible for a licence to conduct any business pertaining to the medicinal cannabis industry.
Belgrave had argued that persons with drug convictions had been hampered from building the medicinal cannabis industry because of their “infringement”, even though some of them were skilled in growing the plant.
However, Roberts-Odle said that indictable offences carry serious consequences for those found guilty of committing them and were not merely infringements.
“The implication that an indictable offence is an infringement is very misleading. The example made that ‘if the police report me today for speeding, that means I can’t drive tomorrow or for the rest of my life in Barbados’, is a nonsensical example. The offences that restrict persons from entering the industry are serious criminal offences and I am aware that the good gentleman knows that these are very serious offences that carry serious consequences, not just for the person who has done them but for our society that has been affected by those actual acts that have been carried out,” she said in a statement on Thursday.
“However, if he is unaware – those said offences are listed in the Second Schedule of the Act and states clearly those persons who commit a felony like producing, offering to supply or any kind of trafficking of illegal drugs, or supplying a controlled drug to a child; someone who employ, hire or use.a child to contravene or assist to distribute a controlled drug, as well as possession of a controlled substance near schools, or offering to supply purported controlled drugs. Anyone who takes a look at that list would understand it is not having a spliff in your pocket.”
The BMCLA head also recalled that there was lengthy public discussion when the legislation was being formulated.
“It went to a full joint committee where Barbadians of all walks of life and backgrounds were able to review the then bill, make presentations, and had their input heard and noted, and a significant amount of those representations were included in what is now the Act,” she said in a release.
Senator Roberts-Odle also sought to address Belgrave’s stance that the fees associated with getting involved in the sector were prohibitive to small farmers, noting that while the initial fees may seem high, with a small cultivator’s (Tier 1) application fee of $1980.00 and licence fee of $29 700 for a five-year licence could be paid in the first three years of the five-year licence with a 60 per cent down payment, with little or no administrative fees.
“A Tier 1 cultivator licensee who has paid their application fee and has been approved, only now has to pay $17 820 upfront or 60 per cent of the total. Then the BMCLA allows that Tier 1 Cultivator three years to pay the remaining $11 880, and he can pay that total remainder either monthly, quarterly or annually.
“There are also licences that are under $6 000 – specifically an import or an export licence – that allow you to work within the closed loop system of the medicinal cannabis regime. In addition, we work closely with the Co-Op Department so that small entrepreneurs can form cooperatives to participate in the industry. The BMCLA also offers Tier 1 farmers a one-time concession for the first importation of planting materials to start the business without an import licence. So while there is propaganda for personal agendas to deter from the facts, one only simply has to seek the truth directly from the BMCLA,” the BMCLA CEO said.
She contended that the position of the BMCLA as it stands is prudent and one that makes sense for the good and the safety of the country and the citizens.
(JB)