Hemp regulations in Jamaica

Regulations for Jamaica’s Hemp Industry by Next Year

Caribbean360 July 28, 2017

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Chairperson of the Cannabis Licensing Authority, Hyacinth Lightbourne, spoke about hemp regulations as she addressed a session on medical marijuana at the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Friday, July 28, 2017 – Regulations are being developed to guide a legal hemp industry in Jamaica and should be in place next year.

That’s according to the chairperson of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), Hyacinth Lightbourne who says a systematic approach is being taken to the hemp industry’s establishment in Jamaica, relative to that for marijuana, “because hemp that is planted too close to ganja breeds the possibility of cross pollination.”

She said advice is being sought in relation to minimizing this possibility and “whether or not it has to be done specifically indoors.”

“Unfortunately, we live on a small island that (can be impacted by) hurricanes, so the possibility of cross pollination is high,” Lightbourne explained.

Cannabis is divided into two main pure strains – Indica and Sativa. Both hemp and marijuana come from the same cannabis species, but are genetically distinct. Hemp is a variety of the Cannabis sativa species that is grown specifically for the industrial uses of its derived products.

Speaking at a session on medical marijuana at the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference this week, Lightbourne also disclosed that the CLA, which was established in 2015 under the Dangerous Drug (Amendment) Act to formulate and regulate Jamaica’s legal ganja and hemp industry, has received 236 applications for licences since commencing the process last year.

Five categories of licenses are issued covering: cultivation, processing, transportation, retail, and research and development.

Lightbourne said that of the 236 applications, two licenses have been granted and 44 conditionally approved, but none of them has been actually issued yet.

She explained that the licensing process takes an average of six months during which the requisite checks and balances are conducted to ensure the applicants’ adherence to the stipulations.

“If a person has been granted a license but has either not yet paid the security bond or the fees, the license is not issued. So, for those two applicants, that is currently what we are waiting on,” Lightbourne disclosed.

She reiterated the Government’s commitment to developing a properly regulated marijuana industry in Jamaica.

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Remove Criminal Sanctions For All Drug Possession Worldwide!

Global Duty: Remove Criminal Sanctions For All Drug Possession Worldwide!
Nov 23, 2016

The Global Commission on Drug Policy recently put out a report asking the whole world to be more lenient with its handling of illegal substances.

The commission is composed of world leaders, intellectuals, and business persons. They are an independent body and including Kofi Anan, the former head of the UN; George Schultz, the former U.S. secretary of state under Reagan; Richard Branson, the UK billionaire and the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Mario Vargas Llosa.

In a report titled “Advancing Drug Policy Reform: A New Approach to Drug Decriminalization,” the commission, suggests to end criminal and civil penalties for small time drug possession and bring an end to the death penalty for all drug-related crimes. Recent reports argue that misdemeanour drug possession charges should not exist.

The report states, “The Commission believes that for the principle of human dignity and the rule of law to be firmly upheld, there must be no penalty whatsoever imposed for low-level possession and/or consumption offenses.”

The report further states that the state should  remove laws focusing on those who use illegal drugs who are not violent, but participate in the black market drug trade because many of these people are simply engaged “to alleviate their severe socio-economic marginalization.” It is the commission’s suggestion that illegal growers, small-time drug dealers and transporters with no history of violence should not be given civil penalties.

Several governments worldwide have begun  decriminalisation  but the commission said the governments are not doing it in an approprite manner. They are tending towards imposing civil fines; therefore, classifying the issue of drug possession as wrong rather than treating  it as a national health crisis.

The report states , complete decriminalization, (removing fines and other civil punishments) “must be the policy that countries strive to implement when reforming their drug laws.”

The Global Commission on Drug Policy suggests the following changes be put in place worldwide:
States must abolish the death penalty for all drug-related offenses. States must end all penalties—both criminal and civil—for drug possession for personal use, and the cultivation of drugs for personal consumption.

States must implement alternatives to punishment for all low-level, non-violent actors in the drug trade.

UN member states must remove the penalization of drug possession as a treaty obligation under the international drug control system. States must eventually explore regulatory models for all illicit drugs and acknowledge this to be the logical next step in drug policy reform following decriminalization.

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“At the global, regional or local levels, drug policies are evolving,” said César Gaviria, former president of Columbia, who serves as a member of the Commission. “However, in order to build solid and effective policies to mitigate the harms of the last 60 years of wrong policies, and to prepare for a better future where drugs are controlled more effectively, we need to implement the full and non-discretionary decriminalization of personal use and possession of drugs.”

Global Commission on Drug Policy
The purpose of The Global Commission on Drug Policy is to bring to the international level an informed, science-based discussion about humane and effective ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs to people and societies.
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