Gov't cautiously optimistic about US move to reclassify ganja

 

The Ministry of Industry Investment and Commerce says the decision by US President Donald Trump to fast-track the reclassification of ganja under US federal law will improve the environment for regulated cannabis activity. 

 

Mr. Trump on Thursday signed an executive order which directs that ganja be moved from its current classification alongside hard drugs such as heroin and LSD to a Schedule III substance. 

 

President Trump says the aim is to expand research into medical ganja and CBD allowing the US Food and Drug Administration to more fully study its medicinal benefits and risks. 

 

State Minister in the Ministry of Industry Investment and Commerce, Delano Seiveright, says the government is cautiously optimistic about the benefits to Jamaica's cannabis industry. 

 

"So, for Jamaica, this is potentially significant. We have decriminalised small amounts of ganja and operate a regulated medical, therapeutic and scientific cannabis regime that's overseen by the Cannabis Licensing Authority. However, the long-standing Schedule I status in the US has contributed to persistent banking challenges and very conservative in our risk assessments by financial institutions, shaped in part by international drug control conventions that are established under the United Nations," he outlined.

 

Mr. Seiveright said he is hopeful that the reclassification will create greater banking access for persons in the cannabis industry. 

 

"We are cautiously optimistic on the real impact on banking investment, and certainly, research collaboration will depend on how this US decision is implemented and how global financial systems will consequently respond. So Jamaica certainly, through the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce and the Cannabis Licensing Authority, will assess the developments carefully. But a move away from Schedule I is clearly a meaningful and really significant step in a particular direction that will bring benefit globally," said the state minister.