{"id":3085,"date":"2019-09-30T21:52:47","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T21:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=3085"},"modified":"2019-09-30T21:52:50","modified_gmt":"2019-09-30T21:52:50","slug":"lets-hope-senator-charles-sinclair-can-articulate-our-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=3085","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s hope Senator Charles Sinclair can articulate our vision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Anthony\nBarrett<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In a\nrecently published analysis, the reputable market research firm Grand View\nResearch Inc., estimated that the global legal marijuana market will reach USD\n66.3 billion by the end of 2025. That\u2019s six years from now. That estimation begets\nthe question: what will be Jamaica\u2019s share of that anticipated\nfinancial\/economic windfall? Further, how prepared are we, as a nation, to\ncapitalize on our world-renown ganja product? In its global analysis of market\nproduction, Grand View Research Inc. did not list Jamaica as a major player.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I will cite\nthe following to buttress that conclusion; Legalization of medicinal marijuana\nand decriminalization in some countries has led to a significant decrease in\nthe black market, as people are resorting to legally purchasing cannabis for\nmedicinal as well as recreational use. Moreover, government earnings through\ntaxation are further viewed as an opportunity for countries to earn revenues.\nPresence of a large customer pool and legalization of medical marijuana in U.S.\nand Canada is expected propel the product demand from North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However,\nlegalization of medicinal cannabis in European countries, accompanied by\nstringent rules and regulations regarding the product sale and cultivation, may\nlimit the overall growth in Europe and in turn for the global market. Other\npromising markets for Cannabis are Australia, Germany, Poland, Colombia,\nUruguay, and Israel. Israel is currently at the forefront of providing\ntechnology and knowledge transfer to the other world markets. As the newer\nmarkets such as the U.K. and Thailand create their legal structure for\ncannabis, the revenue growth is expected to witness significant growth.\nMoreover, countries like South Africa and New Zealand are discussing\nlegalization for medicinal marijuana and may emerge as viable markets in the\nforthcoming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jamaica\ncannot afford to lag behind these countries named in the analysis. It is a no\nbrainer that we have an ideal product and room stock here to create a viable\nmedicinal marijuana industry which can be tied to our tourism product. Let us\nnot forget that many tourists do not come here for our sea, sand, sun,\nbeautiful girls and rent-a- dreads. Some do come for our ganja. Now, we have\nthe opportunity to legitimize their usage in partaking of the blessed weed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Likewise,\nwe cannot afford to not capitalize on the bourgeoning legal export market. As\nJamaicans, we have some of the most enviable illegal exportation mechanisms for\nillicit marijuana. We do not need those mechanisms for the exportation of legal\nmarijuana. What we need are the legislative frameworks through which we can\nexploit and export our well awarded\/regarded product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In that\nvein, I posit that Jamaica has the necessary production infrastructure, land,\nwater and manpower. We can go to market with lower prices than our global\ncompetitors due to affordable land, relatively low wages and an abundance of\nskilled farm hands who have toiled in illegal ganja fields since its\nprohibition more than a century ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\nobstacles to full participation in the legal exportation are many and varied.\nIn that context, this past week, Agriculture Minister, Audley Shaw, welcomed\nthe easing of one such hindrance, the passage of the SAFE Banking Act in the\nUSA by the US House of Representative.&nbsp;\nShaw\u2019s exuberance might have been premature because the Act still faces\nobstacles in the US Senate, but Jamaica needs to put the requisite legislations\nin place to anticipate and be ahead of US Senate\u2019s adoption of the House of\nRepresentative\u2019s bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let me\nwarn, the Jamaican government needs to act with alacrity to capitalize on the\nexportation of our beloved product. Already, Colombia is ahead of us in the\nlegal exportation of medicinal marijuana to legal medicinal host countries such\nas Canada and the United Kingdom. Unlike Colombia, Jamaica is well positioned\nas a Commonwealth country to exploit both markets given our historical trade\nagreements with both. We as a nation must exploit and utilize our most favored\nstatus with those countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According\nto the US-based National Public Radio, \u201cRather than a symbol of the country&#8217;s\ndark past of narco-fueled violence, Colombian drugs can now be used to treat\npeople. At least that&#8217;s the bet of a growing number of entrepreneurs who are\nbuilding vast marijuana plantations and state-of-the-art pharmaceutical\nlaboratories that produce everything from cannabis-based pain relievers for\ncancer patients to dog treats that act as calming agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other\ncountries are passing laws to permit the production, import and export of\nmedical marijuana, but Colombia has a leg up because it did so three years ago,\nsays Rodrigo Arcila, president of the Colombian Cannabis Industry Association.\nHe said the group&#8217;s 29-member companies have invested more than $600 million in\nbuilding medical marijuana facilities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With all\nthe above, we must, as a nation, examine the role of longstanding ganja farmers\nin the bourgeoning ganja market. I have seen some local exotic plants which\nrespected connoisseurs have given kudos to. My bredren and schoolmate, Chung,\nhas fallen into that category. He has one the most potent of all desired\nJamaican species, but he cannot market it. Why? Is there exclusivity in\nexportation, farming, marketing and ganja medicinal clinics? Do you have to be\nuptown to get an equitable share of the market, despite years of developing the\nproduct? Ergo, are traditional ganja farmers deliberately excluded by\ngovernmental inertia or the \u201cbrown skinned bias\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is not\ngood for a writer to interject personal biases into an article. I find that\npractice disconcerting but, today, I must make an exception. From my vantage\npoint, as an owner of some of the most arable and traditional ganja bearing\nlands n St. Thomas, lands previously owned by the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church,\nI have embarked on cultivating the three plants our government recommended we\ncan legally produce. Through advice from old ganja farmers in St. Thomas, I\nhave been able to develop a more potent strain of the popular and powerful\nKilmarnock St. Elizabeth ICE Weed on my property. Each plant has yielded 8 lbs\nafter the separation and drying process. Let us use this as an example of what\nthe potential can be for every Jamaican on minimal amounts of land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As\nbackground, let me iterate, the Coptics, in the guise of a religious and\nbenevolent entity, were a religious cult from the USA which, incidentally, were\nthe largest and the most profligate and major illegal exporters of ganja from\nJamaica during the 1970s and 1980s. Farmers, day labourers who packaged the\nproduct and those involved in exports were handsomely rewarded. Police officers\nand low level technocrats got rich. Today, that same exclusivity continues to\nobtain. Where and what will be the role of those who toiled, tweaked existing\nspecies, and were imprisoned and scarred by society for their participation in\nthe industry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whilst I\nfulsomely support the benefits to our national coffers, we must be cognizant of\nthe local farmers (sic) agronomists, who have created this enviable industry.\nWe cannot allow the white and near white of the plantocracy to control or\ndominate an industry which they publicly turned their collective and gentrified\nnoses upon. They must be shunted to the back of the line. Only the Jamaican\ngovernment has that authority to protect indigenous farmers. Let\u2019s hope Senator\nCharles Sinclair can articulate our vision in the Upper House of Parliament\nbecause without legislative protection, small ganja farmers will be doomed and\nprohibited from benefitting from this new, legal industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Peace!\nmocobarrett@yahoo.com<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anthony Barrett In a recently published analysis, the reputable market research firm Grand View Research Inc., estimated that the global legal marijuana market will reach USD 66.3 billion by the end of 2025. That\u2019s six years from now. That estimation begets the question: what will be Jamaica\u2019s share of that anticipated financial\/economic windfall? Further, how [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[1579,1576,698,419,1577,1578,30],"class_list":["post-3085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-editorial","category-letters","tag-cannabis","tag-charles-sinclar","tag-marijuana","tag-research","tag-senator","tag-small-man","tag-western-jamaica"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3087,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3085\/revisions\/3087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}