Jamaica’s Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce has recently spoken out to support small-scale marijuana farmers. The Jamaica Observer reports that State Minister Dr. Norman Dunn believes the Alternative Development Programme is the best way to assist smaller cannabis farmers to enter the legal market.
Dunn, speaking at the 4/20 celebration held in Island Village at Ocho Rios in St. Ann said: “The ADP will allow participating communities to grow up to 10 acres [and] be required to export all their products to authorized cannabis license holders or licensed downstream buyers.”
A Cultivator’s Transitional Permit can also be used to remove entry barriers for growers. Dunn called the permit “less rigid” and said it would allow cultivators to grow cannabis temporarily legally, while raising funds to submit an official application for a license to the CLA. The “mother farm concept” allows small-scale growers to work with licensed parties to cultivate cannabis, and sell the product to them.
Dunn continued. We at the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce are continuing to engage and meet with stakeholders in Jamaica, including those in academics, medical research, business, and government, that can advance Jamaica’s unique cannabis industry.
Olivia Grange, Minister for Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, also expressed the necessity of modernizing and regulating the cannabis industry. Grange, who echoed Dunn’s comments, believes they can remove the stigma of cannabis, and allow the herb “to become the foundation for a new Jamaican Industry with the potential to make an important contribution to the National Budget.”
Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce states that 128 small farmers would benefit from the concept of mother farms. Aubyn Hills, a Jamaican senator explained in March that the plan was to start the program this month. When I see people in Jamaica, they have one, two, or three acres but lack the necessary working capital. “The mother farm concept is a way to attract a large investor,” explained the minister. We are looking for ways to alleviate the problem. “We’re looking for very realistic ways to grow medical cannabis in Jamaica.”
ADP was developed in 2017.. Hyacinth lightbourne, CLA Chairperson expressed in an interview to the Jamaica Observer the importance of small farmers. Lightbourne stated that if traditional farmers were excluded from the program, one of the main reasons to develop this industry, which is meant to offer a legal option for people who cultivate illicit crops, would be a failure.
Jamaican officials have been working hard to support small growers, but recent reports in March indicate that they recently gave a license for a Canadian company to export marijuana. CLA rear Admiral Hardley lewin expressed concern about the license. Lewin told, “I brought it to the attention both of our industry and members.” And also the CLA, who confirmed this. “I made quite a fuss about this because I was very upset that a country which does not permit Jamaican exports to Jamaica or imports to their market, could have been granted export permission.”
As a response, Minister Hill stated that imported Canadian cannabis was not available in Jamaica. It’s a Jamaican firm… They have to comply with the laws… The ganja variety being imported isn’t available in Jamaica. Permits are granted based on what license you hold. Hill said that some people had licenses to test, while others were licensed to grow , and still others for retail .
The first time High Times published the article Jamaican Officials Advocate Support for Small Scale Cannabis Cultivation.
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