Barbados has announced plans to establish a medicinal cannabis industry project implementation unit tasked with establishing the administrative framework for the timely implementation of the project.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who delivered her administration’s 2019-2020 national budget, earlier this week, said the Unit will be headed by a director, who will be responsible for championing the programme and ensuring that an expansive educational and sensitisation campaign is implemented.
She said it was necessary to explain to Barbadians “what we are doing with the development of this new industry and how it can help many many Bajans in the management of serious medical conditions which the fees in this country”.
Mottley said that one of the tasks of the unit will be to facilitate the establishment of a Medicinal Cannabis Authority and Board, which will be responsible for regulating the medicinal cannabis industry, through the formulation and implementation of appropriate policies, procedures and guidelines, as well as for the conduct of inspections.
She told legislators that the island would be seeking to establish partnerships with entities who have the necessary experience and who are willing to invest in the development of the industry.
She said this would include the assistance of the University of the West Indies (UWI) with establishment of a train-the-trainers programme; the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council will assist with accreditation through Caribbean or National Vocational Qualifications (CVQS/NVQS); and the University of Guelph for the establishment of a research and development, as well as a certification programme.
Mottley said that her government would ensure that any policies related to medical cannabis cannot exclude the participation of the Barbadian population and as a result, her administration will ensure that local entrepreneurs will be given opportunities for full participation.
She said her administration has not yet taken a decision regarding recreational cannabis, saying “that is a decision we have said is only for the people of Barbados by way of a referendum and my government believes there are more important things that we have to focus on in the immediate future before I announce any such date for that referendum,’ she said.
She said that the expansion of the tourism industry would also benefit “n\because we must not make that was made for three centuries in this country, where for example, we believe that we only produce for export of bulk.
“We have to trigger and access all of the value added in the product that we can so that we are not just exporting medical cannabis, we are looking at the production of oil, which have a higher value added, we looking at the establishment of a pain management clinics in the tourism industry so that we can attract people who want to come to Barbados to recuperate,” she said.
