Jamaica could stand out in ganja industry – Minister Hylton

 Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister, Anthony Hylton, says Jamaica already has a head start with brand recognition towards establishing a legal cannabis industry.

Speaking at the Swept Away Resort in Negril on Saturday, November 14, on the final day of a Beckley Foundation two-day conference on Jamaica’s Cannabis Reforms, the Minister said that no country has “a greater opportunity than we here in Jamaica to leverage the country brand association with marijuana.”

He added that the cannabis industry, previously seen as a negative, now holds much growth potential for Jamaica, with opening markets in the U.S., the Netherlands and Canada, which recently announced plans to legalize the cultivation, sale and recreational use of cannabis.

“The implications are already sending ripples across the world. Indeed, once the cannabis industry fully develops, there exists a clear opportunity for trade in cannabis given Jamaica’s strong brand and long-standing trade partnership with Canada,” the Minister said. “We are now witnessing the transformation of the once obscured and mainly underground marijuana industry, which has been steadily gaining increased traction globally.”

The conference examined the developments in Jamaica and a number of other countries in the regulation and legalization of the cannabis industry, and the economic opportunities of the opening market.