Letter of the Day | Jamaica’s cannabis industry needs realism, not hype

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Jamaica’s cannabis industry deserves serious discussion, not easy slogans. Too often, we speak as if domestic reform automatically created wide export access. It did not.

Jamaica has built a legal framework through the Cannabis Licensing Authority for medical, therapeutic, and scientific purposes. That is an important step. But a local licence is only the first gate. Export depends on something Jamaica cannot control alone: whether the receiving country is prepared to authorise the shipment under its own laws.

That is why public conversation must become more disciplined. Under the export rules, a shipment requires authorisation from the importing country. Canada, which is often described loosely as a legal market, shows why this matters. Its own rules make clear that cannabis imports and exports are limited to licensed parties and only for medical or scientific purposes. So, even where cannabis is legal abroad, access can still be narrow, permit-based, and highly restricted.

This is not an argument against the industry. It is an argument against overstating the opportunity. Jamaica has created a lawful platform, but legality at home is not the same thing as commercial entry abroad. If we confuse those two issues, we risk building expectations that the law itself does not support.

The country needs realism, regulatory discipline, and honest public discussion. The promise of the cannabis industry should be judged by what foreign regulators will actually admit, not by what we hope the global market might become.

ORAINE GORDON