As the cannabis wave prepares to explode off the North American mainland, Jamaica\u2019s Science and Technology Minister Dr. Andrew Wheatley spoke to the group of people getting the ball rolling on protecting the island\u2019s national treasures. On Monday, the Jamaican Medical Cannabis Corporation and the National Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology signed off on its memorandum of understanding around how it will undertake a project to identify, isolate and conserve the nation\u2019s local strains. Part of the plan is also that in doing this they\u2019ll reinforce and expand Jamaica\u2019s place in the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is like our birthright and we cannot allow persons from outside to come and take away our birthright,\u201d Wheatley told those assembled, according to\u00a0NationNews<\/a>. \u201cWe have to position ourselves, we have to take on the mantle (and) do what we have to do\u2026 as it relates to medicinal marijuana research.\u201d<\/p>\n Wheatley went on to say he believed the new project had the potential to make Jamaica a leading expert on medical cannabis.<\/p>\n Professor Errol Morrison, director general of Jamaica\u2019s National Commission on Science and Technology, added, \u201cWhat you are about to witness is the dedication of our scientific community to eventually [map] the scientific identification of our strain. Not a look, touch, smell, feel [but] DNA science to underpin what it is that we have been making claims for centuries.\u201d<\/p>\n Longtime California cultivator and industry expert Deborah Sadler has been keeping an eye on the Jamaican cannabis scene for years and said she is witnessing the telltale signs of\u00a0an industry anticipating it will get its shot.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of Canadians down there now trying to do stuff, but they\u2019re not too successful so far,\u201d Sadler told Cannabis Now. \u201cJamaica will attempt to do what is right by Jamaicans, but money will ultimately make the playing field not level. Jamaicans have no money, especially farmers. I have faith that for the most part they will create a space for All to play, but again, just like\u00a0California<\/a>\u00a0it will come down to who can afford to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n We asked the\u00a0California Growers Association<\/a>\u00a0if its officials in California were as concerned about preserving the local genome.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, we haven\u2019t seen the same sort of support at all,\u201d Executive Director Hezekiah Allen said. \u201dA lot more could be done to help growers in our state succeed in the regulated market. Instead, for many thousands, the road was a dead end while well-capitalized businesses seemed to have a fast track.\u201c<\/p>\n Allen believes officials are not far off from seeing what they\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n \u201cSoon though, the state will realize that California is not known for bulk commodity grade THC; California is known for exquisite flavors, expansive and inviting highs, delicate entourages,\u201d Allen said. \u201cCalifornia cannabis is built on the craft and culture of cannabis, something that needs to be preserved here in California, and also in Jamaica, Canada, Nepal, and countless others communities around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Allen also commented on the California Department of Food and Agriculture\u2019s forthcoming application program,\u00a0 which may help preserve those family cuts.<\/p>\n \u201cSpecifically to the concept of \u2018strains\u2019 this type of protection is what we hope will come from the CDFA Appellations program, now in development,\u201d said Allen. \u201cIt was the recognition that California Growers have nurtured a botanical and economic treasure of biodiversity through decades of underground and isolated breeding programs.\u201d<\/p>\n Allen said CGA advocated to expand the program to include varietals, \u201cin the hopes that CDFA would support our local growers by documenting and cataloging the genetic diversity that makes California the global leader in cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0National Cannabis Industry Association<\/a>\u00a0says it\u2019s no surprise Jamaicans would want to be in charge or their cannabis destiny, but think there are plenty of best practices and hard-learned lessons they can take from North of the Caribbean.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is completely understandable that Jamaican leaders want to develop their own cannabis industry, particularly in light of the discrimination that cannabis growers and consumers have faced there historically,\u201d NCIA Media Relations Director Morgan Fox told Cannabis Now. \u201cWe hope that they will still be open to working with US companies to take advantage of the innovation and best practices that have become commonplace in this market, but also that they will eventually be able to make a solid footprint in the international market that seems likely to develop in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>,\u00a0have you tried any landrace strains?<\/p>\n The post Jamaican Official: Country Must Stake Claim on Its Strains<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
As the cannabis wave prepares to explode off the North American mainland, Jamaica\u2019s Science and Technology Minister Dr. Andrew Wheatley spoke to the group of people getting the ball rolling on protecting the island\u2019s national treasures. On Monday, the Jamaican Medical Cannabis Corporation and the National Foundation for the DevelopmentContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[148,1972,50,306,1728,900,4747,4748,415,1419,107],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27315,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27314\/revisions\/27315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Jamaican Official: Country Must Stake Claim on Its Strains<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"