G&NJA: The CLA Regime
A close look at what the Cannabis Licensing Authority does and the implication for cannabis in Jamaica
A close look at what the Cannabis Licensing Authority does and the implication for cannabis in Jamaica
Jamaica, a name synonymous with quality ‘herb’, is now in a uniquely enterprising position that may see the country among a select list of legal exporters of Cannabis. It is the most widely used controlled substance according to the World Drug Report 2019.
Interestingly enough, America and Canada have more relaxed stances governing its consumption and use. The hopes for a fully functional global market is not as improbable as some may think. America’s country wide stance on cannabis laws will especially be tied to the coming presidential election. This is an important factor to note since Jamaica’s banks have to protect their correspondent banking relationships. Jamaica’s banks cannot provide financial services to cannabis based businesses yet. The banking laws at the federal level overseas are not too keen to support what they consider ‘drug money’. Audley Shaw, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, is reportedly lobbying with the international community to give us leeway in the matter.
Globally the plant is still considered an illegal substance under several treaties governed by the United Nations, to which Jamaica is signatory. July 2015 gleamed a ray of hope for long time cannabis connoisseurs and long time farmers. The amendment to The Dangerous Drug Act facilitated the formation of an agency under the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries. The subsequent year saw the emergence of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), a regulatory body mandated with establishing the framework for a sustainable cannabis industry.
Medical marijuana is legal in Jamaica However, recreational use is still a sore topic. No longer considered a criminal offence, marijuana’s status is now classified as decriminalised. This allows for up to two ounces to be on any one person at any given time. There are those who find this too constricting and are against anything short of complete legalization. The CLA exists as the government’s say so on matters regarding cannabis. They facilitate the use of marijuana for a very specific scope of purposes in order to stay in line with international obligations and mandates. They in turn are regulated by the National Council on Drug Abuse.
…we are also drafting export/import regulations and that would place us among 10 countries that can move cannabis in and out of their borders.
Felecia Bailey Director of Research Development and Communications at CLA
Felicia Bailey is the Director of Research Development and Communications at the Cannabis Licensing Authority. She joined the organization in the latter part of July 2019. She explains why the organisation was formed, how the CLA battles misinformation and most importantly the services they provide. What follows is the wealth of information she so graciously shared to provide you true insight into what it means to be a cannabis licensee in Jamaica.
The criticism by many is that the licensing opportunities available at the CLA exclude local farmers who have a lot of experience and have had to sacrifice just to earn from it; is this the case?
The traditionalists and cultural interests are represented. The government ensured when they were drafting the interim regulations that persons from all the relevant civil society groups and government organizations were represented on the board. We aimed to accurately represent everyone including Rastafarians. However I believe it is a misconception to believe we are inaccessible and out of reach as it relates to cost. The government in crafting the regulations ensured specifically that the licensing fees and security bond could be waived on request and deferred. There are also allowances for a payment plan. These are some of the things that are often overlooked. Also, I must stress that businesses come with a cost and the government through broad consultation, even before the CLA, surveyed islandwide to arrive at these figures. Whenever we speak to people outside our jurisdiction, even in the Caribbean, they are taken aback. We charge as low as 2000 USD for a license compared to some 24000 USD in other jurisdictions. If we were to put it in context it is a relatively small figure. Finally, we do not tell people how intricate to construct their facilities but we must ensure certain basic principles are followed because you are working with a controlled substance. Things like security and viability are important because Jamaica is signatory to several drug conventions which we have ratified. Basically we have made agreements that we would carry out certain procedures and we must stay in line with those procedures or face dire consequences.
There are a lot of misconceptions and false truths that people out there tend to latch on to. I believe there are those people out there that generate misinformation also. It is untrue that the licenses we offer are only available to the ‘big man’. We have people from all walks of life that step into our office. Misinformation affects us a lot that is why we are really trying to be more accessible to the public. We do have a website but people do not necessarily access it. We are currently doing two types of sensitisation sessions. One where we work with Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the government. Alternatively our endeavours are also now aimed at going into communities, mostly rural, to bring awareness to what people can access and what doors are opening up. Our first trip saw us in Enfield St Mary in early November. The aim was to give them direct information because in some cases television, radio and newspaper do not suffice and require our physical presence. We exhibit at various events, for example Rasta Roots Fest. I should boast that at CanEx the former owner of Canopy Growth, which is the biggest cannabis company in Canada, applauded the CLA as one of the top two licensing regimes in the world.
It is also very important for me to tell you that the CLA can only take you as far as the conditional approval phase. That’s it. As of the end of November we have issued over 50 licences and have 259 at the conditional approval phase. When people say we should issue more licences the number of licenses issued should not be the standard by which we are judged on. We can only bring an applicant up to that stage after which it is on the applicant to move from there to being approved and actually getting their license. What we should be measured by are the amount of applicants we pass through to the conditional approval phase. Conditional approval means we have looked into the applicant and we have said this applicant is fit and proper to enter the industry based on what the regulations require. This is one of the merits other jurisdictions have applauded us on because we have a system that says [hey] we’ve looked into this and now you have the go ahead to invest your money. In other places people tend to begin to invest before they even know the status of their license. After the conditional approval phase then you may go ahead and build out your facility. You can notify us that you are ready for us to come and do your pre license inspection. We may then advise you on what needs to be fixed and repeat the process or we may give the go ahead if all is well. Then we may grant you the license and only then are you required to pay the fee and security bond. A note about the security bond is that it stays there after it is paid. You are only required to pay the security bond under the condition it is used. We have to ensure that whenever something goes wrong and if it is required that the CLA takes punitive action other licensees and taxpayers have to pay that cost.
What are the current licences issued by the CLA?
Currently we offer 5 licence types with different tiers associated with some of them. We have the Cultivators License with tiers one through three based solely on the acreage. We have Processing License with two tiers based on the size of the facility. The Retail License, which facilitates the creation of herb houses with facilities for consumption and herb houses without facilities for consumption. The herb house is what you may hear in other jurisdictions referred to as a dispensary. We have foregone that term based on legalities under which our laws dictate. A Retail License for therapeutic services which are usually like a spa type setup. There also exists the Research and Development Licenses. Under this license we have experimental and analytical. Finally the Transport License which comes with an additional cost for each vehicle added. We do not typically license individuals but instead lean more so towards licensing facilities. The single exception is a cultivators license. All the other license types require you to register your company with the Companies Office of Jamaica. That, however, does not mean a company cannot apply for a cultivator’s license.
Something else I would like to say to you is that small farmers are even represented outside the CLA. On the ministry’s side, with strong support from us there is the Alternative Development Program. This ensures traditional ganja growing communities can apply through the ministry to produce and sell cannabis. They are in the pilot phase and I believe Accompong is up and they are looking into Orange Hill. They are not licensed but instead have authorization under our established regime. The CLA assists with the direction and regulation associated with the program to ensure it is in keeping with the law.
Does the CLA intend to issue recreational ganja/hemp use licences?
To my knowledge, at this point that is not a consideration of the government. The CLA is only tasked with looking at medical, therapeutic and scientific purposes. Once we still remain signatory to international conventions the CLA has a responsibility to ensure whatever the government does, as it relates to cannabis, are in line with said conventions. Because of that the only legal industry we could compose was for medical, therapeutic and scientific. Everything we do must fall under that specific umbrella.
What are some of the more non compromising parameters of the licensing process as it relates to applicants with marijuana related felonies and criminal charges obtained whilst holding a license?
A person is disqualified from applying for or holding a licence if the person has been convicted of an offence that cannot be expunged, money laundering or have had charges against them in another country similar in nature. It should be stated that persons convicted under the Dangerous Drug Act of similar crimes must wait a period of ten years before applying for a license after their sentence or fine. Any offence outside of those stated have a wait period of five years.
Is Jamaica positioned to compete globally in the wake of other Caribbean countries preparing legislation for their own ganja/hemp industries?
We are now crafting our hemp regulations because, as you know, our focus has mainly been ganja.
Felecia Bailey Director of Research Development and Communications at CLA
When I get faced with questions like these I refer to someone I heard speak at a conference who highlighted Jamaica’s synonymity with ganja is hard to overcome. At the CLA we are doing a lot to ensure we are internationally competitive. A lot of those other countries that you see developing policies for a cannabis industry, Caribbean or otherwise, have come right here to see what we have done. This is mainly because our system is so good that they deem it worth understanding. A lot of what we have done is to go back and look at our interim regulations to ensure they match up with what we are currently experiencing in the field. We are now crafting our hemp regulations because, as you know, our focus has mainly been ganja. We seek to broaden our spectrum abit as hemp is not as restricted by red tape as ganja is because of its low THC content. We do not want a case where people can go out and plant hemp as they wish as it would then threaten the ganja side of things. That is why we are actively drafting those regulations and policies to protect both industries. With the absence of us having a policy or regulation that stipulates what needs to happen it becomes a danger. All aspects related to the regulation is steeped in science and research. Things like looking at other jurisdictions with dual industries to see what can be done and what not to do. Currently, we are also drafting export/import regulations and that would place us among 10 countries that can move cannabis in and out of their borders. This is one of the biggest things for us because we can supply only so much to our domestic market. The more money to have is globally. Last September we received our first draft from the Ministry of Justice. Really we looked at it within the CLA and involved external stakeholders like MDAs and industry experts. By pooling together all the feedback we intend to submit another draft for them to amend with our suggestions. What you should know is that there are some things within the regulations we cannot do but we do what we can to open the doors for those interested in being apart of the industry. Before, we did not know what the industry would look like. Now that we’ve had three years experience we are going back to the interim regulations to see what we can streamline within the parameters of our own regulatory body and international treaties.
To what extent is foreign investments regulated to ensure there is not a perceived monopoly in the hemp industry?
Firstly, there is no company that can legally operate under our regulation that is not substantially owned by a Jamaican. We say substantial ownership and control must be by persons ordinarily residing in Jamaica. They have to live here three years preceding the date of their application. That is a rule across the board. If a company is licenced with us but decide they will change their makeup and directorship we must be informed. We have to do due diligence on those persons to ensure that those persons are Jamaican, ordinarily a resident and that they are fit and proper to be apart of the industry.
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