The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A medical marijuama advocate is predicting that the next government will legalise this sector within four months of next week’s general election by passing the necessary legislation.

Terry Miller, chairman of the Green Alternative Investment Network Cooperative Society (GAIN), told Tribune Business: “I have seen a draft of the legislation as some things are still being ironed out, but we also have been working on our own draft and, while it is unfortunate that they haven’t passed legislation yet, we have to look at the positives.”

“This gives us more time to finalise our draft because we have volunteers, and while we are volunteering we still have to eat.” GAIN has a small budget and depends on donations. “We survive off of membership dues primarily. That is all we have now,” said Mr Miller.

Warning that any future administration must do what is right by expectant industry stakeholders, Mr Miller added: “It would be to the detriment of any political party if they do not take this opportunity to empower Bahamians and grant licenses. This industry just can’t be for the people who have money; it has to be for the average Bahamian and the average working class Bahamian.”

“It is sad thing when we look at the levels that our young men would go to in order to make a big profit on such a small investment. People just don’t realise that, by the stroke of a pen, what was criminal yesterday can become mainstream today.”

Recalling the prohibition era when several Bahamian families made their fortunes smuggling rum and other alcohol into the US, Mr Miller said: “Those people were considered criminals, but now their children and grandchildren as the wealthy ones in our communities today, and they are looked up to.

“They were willing to take a chance during a very trying time and that’s what we see continuing to happen. The illicit drug trade has been the number one fuel for guns and gangs in our community, so I am looking for a government to sit down and start discussing the whole gamut and take a bold initiative on behalf of the Bahamian people.”

Both major political parties have pledged to establish a medical marijuana industry if elected to office. The Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), in its “blueprint”, promises to “develop a comprehensive regulatory framework for growing, harvesting and exporting cannabis so that the industry creates opportunities for many, not just a few”.

It added that Bahamas Invest, the Government’s proposed new investment promotions agency, will be used to “encourage joint ventures in the medicinal cannabis industry” between Bahamians and foreign investors.

The PLP rounded off their marijuana-related pledges by promising to “ensure that all Bahamians are given full access to development, and have a fair opportunity to become owners in this new industry”, and to “develop robust regulations to strictly monitor and minimise the impact on our international reputation”.

The Free National Movement’s (FNM) manifesto is offering similar, for it promises to legalise medical marijuana and “establish a Cannabis Licensing Authority to oversee the new cannabis industry in The Bahamas. This will include regulation of issuance of licenses and other matters related to the sector”.

And it added that “all companies in the new cannabis industry would be at least 51 percent Bahamian-owned”, while promising to “make Crown Land available for Bahamians to grow legal cannabis”.

Mr Miller said that over the next few weeks GAIN will ramp up its public relations efforts, bringing awareness to the industry’s potential as it pushes for the next administration to eventually pass medical marijuana legislation.