6 months ago
27
When use of the marijuana plant was decriminalised in 2015, there was excitement that the cannabis industry was going to be the next big thing in Jamaica.
But a decade later, the cannabis industry has not taken off as expected, and industry players say the Government has failed to provide the necessary leadership and guidance for a sector that is new to most Jamaicans after years of operating in the shadows.
The Cannabis Licensing Authority, CLA, the agency of the Ministry of Industry Investment and Commerce, which aims to establish and regulate Jamaica’s legal marijuana and hemp industry, has issued 166 licences up to December 2024, according to statistics on its website.
Eighteen applications are at the licence-granted stage in the application process and are awaiting the payment of licence fees, and 36 applications are at the conditional approval stage, the CLA’s website states.
But the organisation remains uncommunicative with the public as questions in several emails and phone calls to the agency from the Financial Gleaner over the past month remain unanswered.
Industry players say the CLA has not been given the guidance and staffing required to grow the fledgling industry. Marijuana is also referred to locally as ganja.
“The CLA is kind of weak as it relates to supporting the industry. There is not adequate marketing to drive persons to the regulated spaces for consumption or accessing cannabis,” said Triston Thompson, who operates Tacaya, a cannabis consultancy and management business.
“Apart from regulation of the industry, the CLA has a mandate to promote safe consumption, and they must talk about the benefits of dealing with the licensees,” Thompson said.
The CLA is headed by Farrah Brown, its fourth chief executive officer in two years, following Daenia Ashpole, Faith Graham, and Lincoln Allen.
The rapid turnover of leadership at the CLA has not helped the industry, according to Dominic McDowell, another industry consultant.
“I do believe that the volatility of the leadership has had a negative impact on the progress of the industry because naturally, it takes time for somebody to settle into a role before they can have an impact,” said McDowell.
“There is a general concern across the industry that a lot of the people put into positions to make decisions relating to the progress or development of the industry are not people with enough understanding, experience, or knowledge of the industry. It’s like you’re putting people who know nothing about banking to run a bank,” he added.
McDowell, who is the manager and curator of the Herb Curb Experience at the annual reggae show Rebel Salute, said despite the shortcomings of the CLA, interest and knowledge of the cannabis industry continue to grow.
He said the number of vendors in the Herb Curb has moved from 10 in 2016 to about 25 this year.
“A big part of what happens in the industry comes down to presentation as well as access to information. Over the years, we have noticed how our vendors have improved the labelling and branding of their products, the range of products produced and displayed, which goes to show that the changes to the Dangerous Drugs Act have allowed people to become more innovative and to operate more freely in terms of their ability to research, experiment, and to develop products, or to standardise what was previously recognised as just traditional folklore medicine,” McDowell said.
During the Herb Curb, a permit from the Ministry of Justice allows the organisers to execute a sacramental exempt event, allowing for legal transport and exchange of up to 70 pounds of marijuana.
McDowell says while the permit limits the amount of marijuana and cannabis products that can be sold, the Herb Curb has facilitated the promotion of recognisable dispensary brands such as Epican, Jacana, and Kaya.
Meanwhile Thompson is calling for the law to be amended to allow for the use of edible marijuana products. He said many visitors to Jamaica not only want to smoke marijuana but wish to eat marijuana products as well.
“But one of the biggest hindrances as to why foreigners are not consuming more cannabis is because currently, the Ministry of Health bans the sale of cannabis in the form of ingestibles. A lot more revenue can be made because when the foreigners come, not all of them want to smoke, but they actually may participate in the therapeutic aspect of cannabis by eating instead of smoking,” Thompson said.
Data regarding the production of marijuana is hard to come by, however, a source in the industry said that close to 50 cultivator’s licences have been issued.
Cultivator’s licences are issued in one of three tiers for the growing of marijuana for medical, scientific, and therapeutic purposes after a rigorous vetting process.
Tier 1 licences are for cultivating up to one acre of land, Tier 2 is for the cultivation of between one and five acres, and Tier 3 is for the cultivation of more than five acres.
One acre of land can yield 200 pounds of “usable good-quality product after you dry, trim, and cure,” McDowell said.
English (US) ·