Over-regulation, restrictive costs identified in ganga industry

More support and education must be made available to Caribbean states that are seeking to establish robust and financially viable marijuana industries.

Attorney-at-law and first director of Licensing and Applications at the Cannabis Licensing Authority in Jamaica, Annette Henry, gave that advice during Thursday’s online panel discussion on the state of the industry, hosted by the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA).

During her brief presentation, Henry said although regional governments have shown various levels of interest in developing their own ganja industries for the benefit of their economies, over-regulation and restrictive costs have far too often placed unnecessary burdens on prospective small producers and other groups looking to capitalize on the lucrative market.

“Many of our small scale traditional ganja farmers, Rastafarians and grassroot individuals believe that the regulatory framework is not inclusive, and some of the provisions are basically hindrances to them participating in the industry,” Henry said.

“So, definitely in Jamaica, steps have been taken to see how best they can amend or revamp the regulations to incorporate and include those individuals in specific terms, and not general terms.”

Though many authorities in the region have made provisions for the research and development of the plant to be a key area in the development of their industries, for both local consumers and the exportation to foreign markets, it’s the research and development regulations Henry feels must be looked at more carefully, not only to create a more inclusive space but to promote more diverse development of cannabis products.

“Research and development is going to assist us but one of the challenges we are seeing is that not many companies apply in Jamaica for research and development licences because one, they believe fees are too much and just onerous, but what we also find is that universities and other institutions that have the resources, the equipment, and the personnel, they apply, but the regulation treats them like a regular company.

“These universities do not have directors and they do not have shareholders in the stricter sense of the regulation, so when an application is made, if you are not careful, their application will languish in the system and then you do not benefit from the research and the development,” the attorney noted.

In addition, Henry stressed that the time was right for the region to collaborate to maximize a lucrative cannabis industry designed to work in step with the Caribbean’s large tourism product.

“What I would love to see in the near future is some form of regional collaboration . . . . Barbados, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, while we may do things individually . . . I think that time has come, where we have that conversation, where we can see how best as a region we can work together,” she said. (SB)