Barbados ramps up cannabis research efforts

Barbados is positioning itself to become a regional hub for cannabis research and biotechnology, with plans to open one of the Caribbean’s largest tissue culture laboratories and establish a national seed bank to protect local genetic resources.

Agriculture Minister Dr Shantal Munro-Knight made the announcement at the BAJCAN Cannabis Expo at the Hilton Hotel on Friday while urging greater Caribbean collaboration in the cannabis industry.

She said the tissue culture laboratory, which is expected to open in St Philip before year-end, would operate to international standards and be among the largest in the region. A national seed bank would follow to safeguard local genetics from external exploitation.

“We must protect our genetic resources, and that applies fully to cannabis seeds as well. So that research and development and protection and [intellectual property] aspect of it must be something that we must invest in solidly.”

With the global medicinal cannabis market reaching US$19.7bn in 2025 and projected to reach US$26.9bn this year, Munro-Knight urged the Caribbean to expand opportunities in biotechnology, testing standards and innovation.

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Security Dr Shantal Munro-Knight and CEO Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority Shanika Roberts-Odle examine books and other items at the BARCAN Cannabis Expo at the Hilton Hotel

But she identified banking restrictions as “the elephant in the room”, describing them as a global, systemic barrier rather than a domestic problem. She argued that risk-averse banks continued to show bias against people traditionally associated with cannabis.

“Perhaps, just perhaps, one of the reasons that we have not been able to overcome the challenge of banking is again tied to the historical as well as systemic bias against the people who this cannabis, this herb, this plant belongs to.”

Despite global market changes, including the United States rescheduling cannabis, she said Small Island Developing States(SIDS) still struggled to build a sustainable financial framework within an international banking system accustomed to “Anglo-Saxon liberal capture of capital”.

Reflecting on her tenure as the first chief executive officer of the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA), the agriculture minister said establishing the industry had involved confronting longstanding stigma.

“One of the fundamental challenges, of course, is that when you move an area that society has historically and culturally viewed with bias into a central place within the economy and society, there will be inevitable pushback.”

She said addressing public fears and distinguishing medicinal applications from recreational use remained major challenges and required continued public education.

“We had to be able to address the concerns and fears of a society… I would suggest that much of that inbuilt fear still remains.”

Munro-Knight also spoke about her father, who suffers from severe spasms and relies on cannabis oil for relief. She cited his experience to highlight what she described as the plant’s healing potential and the need to advance patient-focused frameworks.

She urged regional industry figures to work together to address regulatory, testing and financial barriers rather than pursue separate approaches.

“There are global and systemic systems that are operating against Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and our efforts to open new markets and new pathways that cannot be underestimated,” she said.

“The only way we are going to be able to overcome it is if we do so together as a region… So I say, and I want to encourage all of you, to no longer think singly, but think regionally.”

(RR)