The Honourable Floyd Green, Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Agriculture says that an advancement is being initiated in the development of local medical marijuana industry, with effort already advanced on guidelines and regulations.

He said that the Ministry currently is in the process of first draft of export/import regulations for marijuana for final discussion and review.

The regulations, when enacted, will provide the CLA (Cannabis Licensing Authority) jurisdiction or even statutory authority for handling request for export/import of flower/inflorescence and resin/extract.

As of 30 September, the CLA issued around 47 licenses for purposes like retail processing, cultivation, R&D as well as transportation, with twelve applicants arriving at final arrangements for their licenses. In addition to this, there are around 250 applications which are currently at conditional stage of approval.

At the Apollon Formularies Ltd’s launch on 25 October, Mr Green said that work still is very much underway, via the BSJ (Bureau of Standards Jamaica), to develop guidelines and standards to safeguard consumers and assist firms with placing their export operations.

He said that the Administration understands what economic benefits a completely developed marijuana sector can bring about for the people in Jamaica and is extremely pleased with the investor interest it has received, overseas and local both.