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The implementation of medical ganja in Jamaica

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Introduction

As developed countries and developing countries including Jamaica introduce medical ganja schemes, there have been significant differences in the business practices underlying the practical implementation of the schemes. Although some of the differences can be attributed to differing interpretations of how medical schemes can be introduced while still meeting international treaty obligations, other differences relate to the degree to which the scheme follows the template of other schemes or the extent to which it has been localised and additionally the categories of products available.

Fischer, Murphy, Kurdyak, Goldner, & Rehm, 2015 comment that in North America medical ganja schemes were not primarily implemented as ‘health’ interventions, but were a consequence of developments in the political and legal landscapes. In Canada medical ganja schemes were a result of constitutional court decisions (Belle-Isle et al., 2014; Fischer, Ala-Leppilampi, & Single, 2003; Lucas, 2009) and in the US they were introduced following public ballot initiatives (Fischer, Kuganesan, & Room, 2015; Lucas, 2009). Similarly in Jamaica the Prime Minister and other Ministers have highlighted the benefits of introducing a medical ganja scheme as the diversification of the economic base, increased resilience to economic cycles and external shocks, increased foreign exchange earnings, increased employment opportunity (Observer, 2015), supporting the rights of Rastafarians to practice their faith and the reduction in use of scarce criminal justice resources (Golding, 2014).

In early 2015 the Jamaican parliament passed the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act (DDAA) (Ministry of Justice, 2015) with several significant changes to the existing legislation and is intended to “provide for the modification of penalties or possession of ganja in specified small quantities and the smoking of ganja in specified circumstances, and for a scheme of licences, permits and other authorisations for medical, therapeutic or scientific purposes”. The DDAA established the Cannabis Licencing Authority (CLA) with an explicit role to launch and regulate Jamaica’s medical ganja industry, while ensuring that the regulations introduced and the activities within the industry meet Jamaica’s international treaty obligations.

Section snippets

Regulations and licencing

The CLA introduced the interim regulations for the implementation of the new medical ganja scheme in Jamaica in May 2016, began accepting applications in June and held a series of public consultation meetings throughout the island in June and July (CLA, 2016a). The interim regulations make provision for licences for the cultivation, research and development, processing, transport and retail of medical ganja (CLA, 2016b). The CLA announced in November that it would be issuing conditional

Issues

The regulations impose a significant administrative burden on stakeholders both initially in applying for and processing applications and in the subsequent reporting requirements and regulatory oversight. The regulations require weekly reporting by Tier 1 cultivation licence holders and every two days by Tier 2 and Tier 3, which will be a significant administrative task for farmers used to reporting annually if at all. All licence holders must ensure full accounting of all transactions

Conclusion

The regulations being introduced in Jamaica would appear to be drawn from schemes implemented in North America with little localisation and impose a significant administrative, infrastructural and financial burden on stakeholders in a developing country, especially in relative terms on small scale cultivators, resulting in a low number of applications in all licence categories. However as in other countries implementing a medical ganja scheme in Jamaica will likely take a number of years with

Conflict of interest statement

None

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References (22)

  • CLA

    Press release – Cannabis Licensing Authority announces April 4 start date

    (2016)
  • Cited by (6)

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