Golding promises small farmers a share of the ganja industry under a PNP government

President of the People's National Party (PNP) Mark Golding says a government led by him will empower and include small farmers in the ganja industry.

Golding told party supporters this afternoon that a PNP government will legislate to create a comprehensive, lawful ganja-based economy for the Rastafari community and the Maroons. 

He said the time had come for the country to move beyond the decriminalisation of ganja, which he championed when the PNP was in Government.

In his address at the 84th annual conference of the PNP at the National Arena in St Andrew, Golding said that small farmers played a pivotal role in building and protecting the knowledge system around ganja locally.

"The potential of this industry is vast, but the current government seems not to understand or believe in it," he said.

Golding pledged that the next PNP government will make the ganja industry fully inclusive.

"We will facilitate home-based production, integrating with licenced processors; we will lower the bar for small farmers to come into the formal industry, and incentivise commercial and knowledge-sharing relationships with well-capitalised processors to achieve win-win outcomes for large and small producers."

Golding said that a PNP administration will also aggressively pursue export markets for quality Jamaican medicinal ganja. 

-Edmond Campbell

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