With regional leader Jamaica having recently exported its first cannabis products to Canada, other island nations of the Caribbean are readying their own proposals for either decriminalization, a legal medical market for cannabis, or both.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Jamaica<\/a>, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines was next to strike out towards decriminalization, and it looks like Saint Kitts & Nevis are headed in that direction as well. Dominica and Grenada are also studying such proposals.<\/p>\n And in the light of all this potential for progress, cannabis tourism in the region is very much anticipated \u2014 after all, who wouldn\u2019t want to combine a Caribbean vacation with a legal buzz?<\/p>\n In December, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines became the first member of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS<\/a>), the community of Lesser Antilles nations,\u00a0to decriminalize cannabis and establish a medical marijuana program. The government is now\u00a0preparing its first licenses<\/a>\u00a0for cultivation.<\/p>\n This has given encouragement to advocates elsewhere in the Lesser Antilles, the region in the Caribbean of smaller islands reaching out into the Atlantic Ocean. In an interview with Saint Lucia\u2019s\u00a0The Star<\/a>\u00a0this week, the chairman of that country\u2019s pro-pot group\u00a0Cannabis Movement<\/a>, Andre DeCaires, discussed the moves in neighboring Saint Vincent. He warned Saint Lucia against \u201cdragging our feet\u201d and urged launching its own industry.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have already lost one investor; I have to let you know. They\u2019ll be going to St. Vincent,\u201d he told the paper.<\/p>\n Continuing up the Lesser Antilles chain, Dominica could be the next to pursue a cannabis economy. In December, Dominica\u2019s President Charles Savarin\u00a0called on<\/a>\u00a0Israel to assist the Caribbean Community (CARICOM<\/a>) in establishing medical marijuana research and a cannabis industry in the region.<\/p>\n In November, Dominica\u2019s government opened a \u201cnational consultation<\/a>\u201d on cannabis decriminalization, with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit urging stakeholders to come up with feasible ideas that would inform his administration\u2019s final position on the issue. A report on results of the consultation should be forthcoming.<\/p>\n Following an\u00a0announcement<\/a>\u00a0last month, it appears the Lesser Antilles nation of Saint Kitts & Nevis is the latest to move toward a liberal cannabis policy. The government has formally accepted the recommendations of a special commission called to study the prospect of decriminalization. Prime Minister Timothy Harris said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0that his government will adopt all \u201crecommendations presented by the St. Kitts & Nevis National Marijuana Commission in its final report to the Cabinet on the way forward for the use of marijuana in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Under the proposal, the nation\u2019s Drugs Act will be amended \u201cto develop a medical cannabis industry and allow use for medicinal purposes.\u201d The proposal would also remove criminal penalties for anyone caught with 15 grams or less, or five plants or fewer. Encouragingly, all those already convicted for these quantities will have their criminal records expunged. Sanctions will remain for public use.<\/p>\n The government is preparing to\u00a0introduce<\/a>\u00a0legislation to the country\u2019s parliament enacting the reform.<\/p>\n In the Greater Antilles (the large islands in the middle of the Caribbean), Jamaica\u2019s new legal cannabis industry is making strides.\u00a0Jacana<\/a>, a newly launched local cannabis company, recently completed the country\u2019s first legal export of Jamaica\u2019s famed ganja. The delivery went to the Vancouver facilities of Canadian cannabis-testing firm\u00a0Anandia<\/a>\u00a0late last year. Jacana last week announced it has raised $20 million to develop a cannabis export industry for the international market.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s chief executive officer Alexandra Chong told the\u00a0Jamaica Observer<\/a>\u00a0this month: \u201cJacana has made a long-term commitment to ensuring the Jamaican cannabis industry thrives. We will be launching [programs] later this year that will share, collaborate and educate on industry best practices with small farmers to encourage more Jamaicans to cultivate medical cannabis that will meet international standards.\u201d<\/p>\n Chong emphasized the country\u2019s tradition of bush medicine. \u201cGrowing up in Jamaica, I witnessed first-hand the benefits of natural medical solutions,\u201d she added.\u00a0\u201cWe believe that nature has the best answers. Jacana\u2019s mission is to provide natural medicine that people can trust, enabling them to live full and meaningful lives by improving their well-being, their health, and their happiness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Chong also applauded the work of Jamaica\u2019s new\u00a0Cannabis Licensing Authority<\/a>\u00a0to establish regulations for the new industry. \u201cI can confidently say that Jamaica is on par with countries like Canada and Germany with the speed at which it\u2019s enabling patient access to medical cannabis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In a region where tourism is a major player, this inevitably enters into plans for the cannabis economy.<\/p>\n In Grenada, a prominent criminal attorney is calling on the government to take immediate steps to accommodate Canadian visitors who need to use cannabis for medicinal purposes. Anselm Clouden, a vocal advocate for decriminalization, told the\u00a0Caribbean Media Corporation<\/a>\u00a0last year: \u201cGrenada now needs to take steps to protect the thousands of Canadians who will be visiting the island for business or pleasure.\u201d He warned that failure to accommodate Canadian cannabis users \u201cis going to do tremendous harm to the tourism industry.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Jerry Rappaport, president of the\u00a0Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association<\/a>, anticipates tourism-friendly cultivation facilities on the island. \u201cYou could ultimately end up with marijuana farms that could be handled like vineyards,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hugh Riley of Barbados, secretary general of the\u00a0Caribbean Tourism Organization<\/a>, is openly advocating cannabis tourism. He rhetorically asked the travel publication\u00a0Skift<\/a>: \u201cNo one knows yet if we had a big ganja festival, who would come?\u201d<\/p>\n We think it\u2019s a pretty good bet plenty would.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, would you travel to a Caribbean island nation for the cannabis?<\/p>\n The post Caribbean Region Emerges as Next Big Cannabis Marketplace<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
With regional leader Jamaica having recently exported its first cannabis products to Canada, other island nations of the Caribbean are readying their own proposals for either decriminalization, a legal medical market for cannabis, or both.\u00a0 After Jamaica, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines was next to strike out towards decriminalization, andContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,1180,6024,3572,170,9402,900,687,1672],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33903"}],"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\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33904,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33903\/revisions\/33904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}First Cultivation Licenses in Saint Vincent\u00a0Inspiring Others<\/h4>\n
Saint Kitts to Decriminalize, Embrace Medicinal Cannabis<\/h4>\n
Jamaica Leads the Way<\/h4>\n
Cannabis Tourism Foreseen, Of Course\u00a0\u00a0<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Caribbean Region Emerges as Next Big Cannabis Marketplace<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"