The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A marijuana advocate has voiced concerns the Government is moving too slowly to legalise the sector and develop industrial hemp, comparing its speed to "an ant trying to nip at a piece of bread".

Terry Miller, chairman of the Bahamas Cannabis Research Institute (BACARI), told Tribune Business he has “very mixed feelings” after the Prime Minister on Friday said the Government is currently completing legislation to legalise medicinal marijuana.

He added that Dr Hubert Minnis' comments seemed to neglect the development of an industrial hemp sector, which is a separate niche from medical marijuana. "On the one hand, it is long overdue, and on the other it breaks up the whole industry into pieces," Mr Miller said.

"If you want to do medical marijuana you should be doing industrial hemp at the same time....... Why are we lagging so slowly? Why are we just nipping at this like an ant trying to nip off a piece of bread?

"What upsets me is the consultation that the Prime Minister promised has not happened. I don't know anything about it. I don't know anything about consultations. I have sent in policy briefs for the Prime Minister's Office and did not even get a response that they had received it.”

Dr Minnis said on Friday: “The Government is in the process of now completing legislation to bring to Parliament to legalise medicinal marijuana so that medical marijuana could be grown by Bahamians here - utilised and exported – medicinal marijuana."

This comes after Bahamas National Commission on Marijuana Co- Chair Quinn McCartney told The Tribune last week that the body hoped to submit its final report surrounding the use of marijuana to the government in the first quarter of this year.

The Prime Minister did not say how advanced the draft legislation is, and when it might be brought to Cabinet or Parliament, with some likely to view the announcement as a further indication that Dr Minnis is stepping up campaign activities ahead of the upcoming general election.

The Government-appointed Economic Recovery Committee (ERC), in its report late last year, recommended that all Bahamas-based companies involved in the production, manufacturing, sale and export of cannabis must have a "minimum" of 50 percent Bahamian ownership.

Its 63-page report, tabled in the House of Assembly, called for "a hybrid approach" to the marijuana issue that includes "decriminalisation for small amounts and legalisation with strict regulatory control offers".

It added that this provides The Bahamas with "an opportunity for economic growth, increased employment, increased revenue from both excise and VAT taxes and a decrease in crime as criminal elements would no longer be suppliers and distributors".

The Committee also called for the Government to "make Crown Land available to Bahamians to cultivate cannabis (with special provisions for small-scale farmers and the Rastafarian community), and manufacture cannabis-based products".

"The Government should avoid over-regulation of the market, which will have the effect of sustaining a black market for smaller producers or retailers who do not have the means to navigate complex bureaucracies," the ERC added.

It also urged an exemption of CBD products - hemp and hemp derivative products with minimal or no THC levels - "from the regulatory ambit, and permit their trade with minimal restriction".

Mr Miller, though, expressed concerns over how licensing would work. He said: “What really concerns me is who are going to get these licenses? When we talk about it being a Bahamian industry, the question is: Which Bahamians?

“That is why we created an alternative investment network cooperative, so that every Bahamian - the poor Bahamian, the middle class Bahamian - can have ownership in an industry that should be owned by the people of this country?

"I’m not excited about this announcement at all, because I didn’t see the consultation. We have draft legislation ready to go, we have a lot of information that we want to put into this. We want to know before that Bill goes to Parliament and we want to have discussions about it. The Prime Minister’s Office was supposed to put out a white paper. Where is that?”

Suggesting that Dr Minnis is missing a step by not having wider consultations, and opting to go directly to Parliament, Mr Miller said: “I’m disappointed. When are we going to talk about advancing this democracy, because it seems as if more and more the Prime Minister is only listening to a small group of guys and choosing to give them information, and ignoring others.”

The Prime Minister, responding to the Committee's report, said: "The Commission recommended allowing medicinal marijuana use. The ERC has recommended the full legalisation of marijuana for medicinal, religious and recreational purposes coupled with an appropriate but nimble regulatory regime that oversees the production and manufacturing, sale, consumption,and export of marijuana.

"The global legal cannabis market is already in the billions of dollars with significant projected growth in the years to come. We are reviewing the possible legalization of a hemp industry and will report back to the nation following greater public consultation.

"A hemp industry would include variations of cannabis low in THC. Bahamian-owned or majority Bahamian-owned companies must - and will - lead any new hemp industry in The Bahamas. Hemp is used in multiple products from clothing to building materials and even in tea bags, such as some Lipton’s tea bags. There are potentially many opportunities for creative Bahamian businesspeople to get involved in this new industry."