BMCLA urges banks to rethink stance after US reclassifies ganja

Barbados’s medicinal cannabis regulator has again pressed banks to open their doors to the industry, seizing on Washington’s decision to downgrade cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III substance as fresh grounds for reform — even as commercial lenders insist their “hands are tied” by correspondent banking partners, Barbados TODAY can reveal.

On Thursday, the US Department of Justice rescheduled cannabis from a Schedule I to a Schedule III class drug.

“This development represents a meaningful acknowledgment of what our Rastafarian brethren and many others have articulated for generations, that cannabis is a natural plant with significant medical and wellness potential,” acting chief executive of the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA), Shanika Roberts-Odle, said on Thursday.

“We note that this decision also has the potential to tremendously ease banking challenges within the United States system. However, the authority notes that this development does not, at this time, correspond with any change in the current position of the Barbados Bankers’ Association position, regarding the banking of licensed medicinal cannabis companies operating in Barbados.”

She added: “We implore the banking sector to take yet another look at this matter and to communicate with their correspondent banking partners toward the potential of allowing the banking of medicinal cannabis funds in Barbados.”

As the authority continues to develop this industry, it looks to the future “with cautious optimism”, guided by evolving international standards, sound regulation and ongoing dialogue in the national interest, the chief executive said.

The BMCLA currently regulates two licensed medicinal cannabis facilities operating in Barbados: Island Therapeutics and Island Naturals.

Roberts-Odle stressed that these facilities operate strictly under the authority’s regulatory framework.

She reminded the public that medicinal cannabis is legal when prescribed by a doctor and dispensed by a pharmacist, in accordance with the law.

But she warned that recreational cannabis remains illegal.

The President of the Barbados Bankers’ Association (BBA), Shimon McIntosh, could not be reached for comment.

But when contacted, Steve Belle, chief executive of the City of Bridgetown Cooperative Credit Union (COB) — the second largest on the island — declared the credit union movement could not accept money from medical marijuana because the financial institutions’ “hands are tied”.

Belle told Barbados TODAY: “We can’t; because, as it stands now, the situation is that our correspondent banks typically don’t have those systems in place to actually accept funds from medical marijuana. Until that is done, we can’t go and expose ourselves because we depend on correspondent banking relations.”

While welcoming the rescheduling of cannabis as having natural medicinal properties, Rastafari leader Ras Paul Simba Rock, who is president and founder of the African Heritage Foundation and a senior member of the National Rastafarian Registry and Trust, contended that all marijuana is medicinal.

He said: “I, personally, and I know the rest of the Rastafari community welcome the acknowledgment of the US, that we love to follow and look up to, to say that, within its raw state, it’s medicinal. There is no difference between medical cannabis and regular cannabis. All cannabis is medicinal. That is the trick that has been played on Barbados. The only difference is the regulation.”

He said the true medicinal properties are not found in those extracted from the plant or “the scientific manipulation of the cannabinoid”.

The Rastafari leader also suggested that the average Barbadian, throughout history, has accepted the medicinal properties of the cannabis plant. 

US drug classification – What to know

Schedule III 

Schedule III drugs are substances with a potential for abuse lower than drugs in Schedules I and II and have a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. Abuse may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.

Schedule I 

These drugs are defined under the Controlled Substances Act as substances that meet all of the following criteria: they have a high potential for abuse; they have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and there is a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.

Under federal law, Schedule I substances cannot be prescribed, dispensed or administered for medical use. They are generally limited to approved research settings and are not available for routine clinical use.

(EJ)