Considering the appalling and we mean, appalling attitudes, to cannabis users in the Gulf States this story comes as both a bit of a surprise and makes us wonder if big cannabis USA / Canada is about to be devoured by a set of investors and companies that will make the likes of Canopy , Aurora etc look like innocent lambs.
Canada’s publication, The Province reveals…….
MIDWAY, B.C. — Mayor Martin Fromme stands beside the Village of Midway’s heritage hotel, looking toward a narrow bridge over the fast-flowing Kettle River, and the dirt road and under-construction cannabis farm up the way.
The 250-acre farm with water rights was purchased last fall for $1.6 million. By spring, five kilometres of three-metre-high ring-lock fence were installed around a 100-acre upper lot — with three strands of barbed wire atop and a security camera every 30 metres. After some heavy July rain and two days of beating sun, you can smell the wild grasses and flowers in this semi-arid zone in West Boundary country between Osoyoos and Grand Forks.
Within and around the southeast corner of the security fencing are nine trailers, including one marked security, two that are air-conditioned and could serve as accommodation, and one temporary toilet. There are three excavators sitting in the field and a long irrigation trench has been dug — but there’s not a soul in sight.
Two months ago, the Midway Hotel was bought by the owners of the cannabis farm for $220,000 to provide housing for its workers.
When asked by Postmedia News if he knew who was financing the operation, Fomme said he had no idea, and was surprised to learn the farm and hotel purchase are part of a string of cannabis deals struck by a Vancouver-based company over the past 18 months with money from a Kuwaiti billionaire.
Kuwait cash for Midway cannabis play
According to the B.C. corporate registry, billionaire Bassam Alghanim’s mailing address is a suite in the Al Johala Tower on Khalid Bin Waleed Street in Kuwait.
Alghanim, the Los Angeles consul for the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, inherited a fortune from his father’s Kuwaiti-based industrial group and is a former chair of the Gulf Bank of Kuwait. The University of California, Berkeley, graduate ran the family business for a while, but is now firmly ensconced in L.A., where he owns several adjoining properties in the north L.A. neighbourhood of Bel Air, including a mansion bought last fall for $8.5 million.
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In September 2019, Bzam bought the Midway farm and in May 2020 purchased the Midway Hotel.
Calls to reach Alghanim at his consular office were referred to Bzam’s downtown Vancouver headquarters and the chief marketing officer, Jordan Winnet. Winnet would not reveal the reasons Alghanim decided to invest in the Canadian cannabis market, saying the billionaire preferred to stay out of the story.
He did provide a timeline of the company’s cannabis investments, adding that Health Canada is reviewing the cultivation licence for the Midway farm and the company expects it to be licensed and operational by spring 2021.
The farm is expected to employ 25 full-time workers, plus 25 seasonal workers — all hired locally.
We suggest you read the story in full to learn more about the company ownership and investments in the sector at. https://theprovince.com/news/kuwaiti-billionaire-behind-rapid-expansion-of-b-c-cannabis-company/wcm/df9e93cc-6395-46b4-aedd-b7b101a5892c
Also, the Vancouver Sun have picked up on the story
https://vancouversun.com/news/kuwaiti-billionaire-behind-rapid-expansion-of-b-c-cannabis-company
It goes without saying that Alghanim’s Kuwaiti political connections will be second to none. With that in mind let’s take a look at some examples of what happens to people caught with cannabis in Kuwait
First
Cannabis in Kuwait Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Kuwait
Enforcement: Use and possession for personal use of cannabis can result in two years in jail plus fines.[1] Punishment for drug-related crimes can be severe,[2] up to and including the death penalty.[3]
This case is a little old, but will give you an idea of the Kuwait’s crime and punishment approch to cannabis.
Most cases don’t make the news as they tend to involve migrant workers or citizens of other Arab states who care little about the fate of those prosecuted for cannabis posession or “smuggling”.
Briton sentenced to life in Kuwait for cannabis smuggling
A Briton has been sentenced to life in prison in Kuwait after he was convicted of smuggling cannabis from Iraq where he worked as a civilian defence contractor, his lawyer said on Sunday.
Bronx Navy Veteran Wins Appeal In Kuwait; Marijuana Charges Reduced
A Bronx-born Navy veteran sentenced to 25 years in a Kuwait prison after his conviction on marijuana-related charges saw his sentence reduced to four years this week by a Kuwaiti appellate court, according to family and friends of the prisoner.
The charges against Nicodemus Acosta, a Computer System Support Specialist with Alaska-based Vista Defense Technologies, were reduced, with the court dismissing marijuana distribution charges against the American. Acosta also faces a $5,000 fine.
Here at Cannabis Law Report, we would also like to remind you that although the UAE and Dubai may look like a sophisticated 21st century city; under all that glam and glitz is a feudal society akin to something more like a unpleasant & unsophisticated version of Florence in the times of the Medici.
Their attitude to cannabis makes Harry Anslinger look like Allen Ginsburg !
Here are a few Dubai stories that’ll make you think twice about that stopover once international airlines are up and running again
10-year jail term for tourist caught with marijuana oil in Dubai
British visitor was arrested at airport carrying 307 pods of illegal substance
Emirates Flight Attendant Arrested in Dubai For Possession with Intent to Supply Illegal Drugs After Police Find Two Cannabis Joints
Dubai visitor sentenced to jail for six kilograms of cannabis
The now-convicted man has been incarcerated since early March, when he touched down at Dubai International Airport at Terminal 3 in possession of 6.1 kg of dried cannabis flower.
Briton who claimed cannabis was medicinal jailed for four years by Dubai court
British man faces two years in Dubai jail after testing positive for cannabis
Connor Clements was arrested after results for drugs tests came back
Our conclusion. If they are locking up your citizens don’t let their political class and billionaires profit from regulated agricultural products that they themselves won’t regulate and allow their public to use.
