Jamaica’s Minister of Finance Audley Shaw says Jamaica must move with urgency to develop a medical marijuana industry. Speaking during the opening of the 2016/2017 Budget Debate, Minister Shaw said that exploiting the benefits of marijuana is “not about smoking a spliff” or “walking around with two ounces of the weed.”
“This is about building an industry of value-added products,” he said as he delivered his first budget presentation of the new Andrew Holness government. Shaw, who cited other countries that have benefited from using the plant, said that Jamaica is uniquely positioned to play a leading role in the medical marijuana industry, which can create wealth for the country.
Shaw noted that in the United States alone, the legal marijuana market is predicted to rise from US$6.7 billion this year to US$21.8 billion by 2020. He said that Canada has built a major industry, which may become fully legalized next year, adding that the Dutch Ministry of Health is exporting medical marijuana to Canada, Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic. In addition, Israel has over 12,000 medical marijuana patients and is leading the world in research on medical marijuana.
Shaw said developing a medical marijuana industry for the country will involve pursuing research at the universities to create medicines which can help people dealing with major illnesses, such as diabetes, epilepsy and others.
“One simple breakthrough in any of these areas will contribute billions of dollars to our economy. This is about turning wasted land into growing hemp products which contain no psychoactive properties and can be used for food, textiles, building materials and many others,” he said, adding that the aim is to build an industry in Jamaica where value-added products will be processed and manufactured locally.
“This is about an opportunity for small farmers who will now earn from land which is sitting idle. This is about our tourism industry where Jamaica will be positioned as the medical tourism capital, bringing health and wellness to the world,” he said.
