The Jamaican Ganja Growers and Producers Association has announced they will launch the Cannabis Commercial Council to help address concerns over the nation’s forthcoming medical cannabis industry, the Jamaica Observer reports. The council will begin its work after hosting its upcoming Ganja Stakeholders Forum.
According to the report, the council will “research, develop and formulate policies for the holistic development of the Jamaican cannabis industry to its full potential” with a particular focus on financing, research, technology, standards and testing, processing, manufacturing, and cultivation. The CCC wants to ensure that smaller cultivators are protected and hope to develop a code of ethics for operators, including instituting a dispute resolution system as a first option before litigation. Organizers are also advocating for a code of ethics system for regulators approving applications.
The Jamaica Cannabis Licensing Authority issued its first cultivation and processing licenses, to Epican and Everything Oily Labs Limited respectively, last week. Hyacinth Lightbone, chair of the CLA, said that three other applications were approved but those firms were “completing their requirements” while another 57 applicants are “in the conditional approval stage,” and another 209 applications “are currently being processed.”
The current medical cannabis regulations in Jamaica do not allow the import and export of cannabis products; however, the nation’s Chief Medical Officer does reserve the right to grant such authority.