From the standpoint of its ‘graduation’ from the status of a condition in which possession of even tiny quantities of the substance could result in brushes with the law, to its current status of having now been widely embraced as a highly regarded medical tool, cannabis has travelled leagues in a relatively short time.
Here in the Caribbean, it is Jamaica where the image of the late iconic reggae superstar Bob Marley, thick smoke from a puff of ‘weed’ slightly masking part of his sharp features, is now as familiar as the country’s national flag, which is leading the way. In the developed world, Canada has emerged as runaway front runners as far as the legalisation of cannabis is concerned. A point has now been reached where the commercial trade in the substance being on a scale that might one day match some of the Caribbean’s other famous commercial crops (sugar?) beckons, and again it is Jamaica that is leading the way.
Last week, it was announced in Kingston that Jamaica’s Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Floyd Green, is anticipating the tabling in the country’s national assembly, by late April, of regulations that will finally pave the way for the commercial export of cannabis from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state.
For Jamaica it has been a ponderous journey to this point, the first draft of the regulations for the commercial export of cannabis having been completed since last August and since then having been subjected to what has been described as a continuous “back and forth movement” among the various state agencies, including the Ministry of Industry, Attorney General’s Department, Chief Parliamentary Counsel and the country’s Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA).
Earlier this week the Jamaica Gleaner reported that the current and hopefully final draft has been returned from the office of the island’s Chief Parliamentary Counsel and could be doing its final rounds, having now been forwarded, again, to the CLA for comments. Green, however, has now sounded a note of cautious optimism that the existing document has arrived at the stage of being the “final product” that the country is looking for. It is, he was quoted as saying, a matter of the document now being “signed off” and afterwards, returned to the Chief Parlia-mentary Counsel for onward transmission to the Legislative Committee.
Major investors in cannabis in Jamaica who are reportedly closely monitoring the ‘to and fro’ movement of the draft are keen to see it pass into law to enable the commencement of the product in commercial quantities. Up until now the country’s CLA has reportedly issued some 57 licences locally that cover the cultivation and retail of cannabis as well as its use for processing, and research & development. The handful of licences that have so far been issued for export covers research only and all of them have allowed for export to Canada only.
However, Green is reported as saying that in those instances where an approved licensee is conducting business with an international company that holds approval for an import license from its home country, the CLA, under the Cannabis the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 2015, has the power to facilitate the export of cannabis for commercial purposes even without the regulations being in place.
The Jamaica Gleaner of Sunday, March 1, quotes Green as saying that his Ministry has already been entertaining approaches from potential exporters who are desirous of going that route.
Jamaica has already recorded an important breakthrough in the area of export of cannabis products. In February this year, one of the country’s high-profile investors in the product, Kaya Extracts Ltd commenced the export of cannabis oil to the Cayman Islands for medicinal purposes. As the legal situation now stands, cannabis products can be traded with the Cayman Islands once the individual shipments secure the approval of the country’s Chief Medical Officer.
Enactment of export regulations would be a major breakthrough for the Caribbean territory regarded throughout the region and particularly by the respective Rastafarian communities as the home of marijuana. The passage of legislation would make Jamaica one of only ten countries worldwide, and the only one in the Caribbean, with a cannabis export regime, a circumstance that would position the country to possibly make a proverbial ‘killing’ from the product before other countries get in on the act.
