Cannabis industry stakeholders seek reset at CanEx this week Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

More than 1,000 cannabis industry stakeholders are expected in Montego Bay this week to discuss how to cash in on the once illegal ganja plant after promising much but delivering little over the past six years.

CanEx Jamaica, the Cannabis Conference and Expo, is seeking a reset for the industry from which some investors have entered and then fled since the Ganja Law Reform in 2016.

Despite the setbacks, CanEx organiser Douglas Gordon said the cannabis industry represents an opportunity to improve the lives of many Jamaicans.

“The industry globally is just in the starting blocks and has an extremely bright future”, he said.

Several reports indicate that the industry is floundering for many reasons, including an unclear export policy, rejection by the banking sector, mistrust and misunderstanding by the public and government, and the softening of the global market.

But Gordon said the stakeholders must respect each other and work together to avoid past mistakes.

“The failure of the industry so far is a result of the inability to articulate what the opportunity looks like and what is the road map to get there…I think that as an industry, it’s time that we start to work much more cohesively in identifying the key issues that need to be resolved to take this industry forward”, he said.

Gordon said up to 1,500 people are to attend CanEx, which will take place at the Montego Bay Convention Centre from September 15 to 17. It is the fifth year of the conference, which was not held for the past two years because of COVID-19.

Participants range from traditional ganja farmers, Rastafarians, scientists, doctors, and the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) – the government’s regulatory body, to licensed producers and anyone looking to learn the business.

Dr Norman Dunn, Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce and a representative from the CLA are to address the conference.

Gordon noted that stakeholders in the banking sector, which has shunned the cannabis industry because corresponding banks in the US, were invited to attend CanEx.

“The reality is that you have over 1,000 people legally employed in the Cannabis industry in Jamaica today who cannot get a home or car loan”, Gordon said

He noted that banks in Canada have been doing business with the industry, including with institutions in the US.

Stating that there is plenty of blame to go around, Gordon called on different stakeholders to respect the role of others in the industry.

He said all should be included, from the Rastafarians and traditional farmers who sacrificed their freedom to build the reputation of ganja; to licenced producers investing millions to develop the industry along global commercial standards.

One weakness, however, is that the economic potential of the industry is unknown.

“Part of the challenge is that there is very little data that gets tracked”, Gordon said, adding that there will be financial experts on hand giving projections on the industry’s earnings.

“The reality is that we will not get to a point where it is [the industry] taken seriously unless we can demonstrate the value of the industry potentially to the economy”, he said.

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