The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said the Bahamas Cannabis Authority is expected to be established early next year, with Cabinet already reviewing the recommended names for approval.

Dr Darville did not disclose the names of those recommended to serve on the authority but said a broad cross-section of people had expressed interest.

These include members of the religious and Rastafarian communities and representatives from civil society, business, research, and medicine.

He said candidates must meet specific qualifications and go through a vetting process.

Establishing the authority will represent a concrete step toward developing a cannabis framework since Parliament passed legislation earlier this year to legalise cannabis for medical and religious use.

The Cannabis Authority will oversee the regulation of medical and religious cannabis use in the country.

“Once the authority is established, we will find a place where they will meet, and they will have to have their own space, their own digital platform, their own regulatory framework,” Dr Darville added.

“And then, of course, we spoke about licensing doctors, licensing pharmacists, you have the cannabis dispenser, the cannabis dispensary. We also have the therapeutics. All of these things need to be brought into play… so it’s a lot of work but the first thing is to put the authority together.”

Dr Darville also announced plans to introduce amendments to advance the cannabis regime when Parliament resumes.

He noted that the Pharmacy Act needs to be updated to accommodate the digital platform, which will include provisions for e-prescriptions.

He said his team is working on the legislative framework to repeal the NIB Chronic Disease Prescription Drug (Fund) Act to ensure it incorporates people with chronic non-communicable diseases who have national health insurance.

He explained that the goal is to make medication more accessible to individuals managing chronic non-communicable diseases. To achieve this, he plans to amend the Pharmacy Act, which will also allow for the integration of digital components, including E-prescriptions for cannabis.

He added that the entire medical cannabis industry will operate digitally. Physicians authorised to prescribe medical cannabis will generate E-prescriptions stored in a cloud system. This allows any pharmacy the patient visits to access and fill the prescription, enhancing security measures in the process.

According to the cannabis bills tabled this year, initial licence fees would range from $1,000 to $5,000, while annual licence fees would range from $500 to $14,712, depending on the licence type.