Cayman News Service
Beauty, cosmetic and other products that contain hemp were removed from local store shelves because of local legislation that bans the consumption, use or possession of any cannabinoid product and not due to any directive from the Public Health Department, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr Nick Gent. Even though there is barely a trace of THC in products like hemp soap or hemp seed milk, Cayman’s draconian ganja laws are keeping it out of reach of residents.
In what many saw as an absurd move, products made from or containing hemp and other cannabinoid products with tiny traces of THC, the element that fuels the high in marijuana, have begun disappearing from store shelves. The CMO has taken the heat for this because he issued guidelines to healthcare professionals about the sale of hemp.
While the Misuse of Drugs Law was changed to pave the way for the use of medical marijuana with a prescription, nothing else was changed in the legislation, despite the popular demand for at least the decriminalisation of the drug. Hemp has been available in Cayman for several years in beauty products and vegan milk, oils and other alternative healthy products. However, the CMO said its use is still illegal because of the local legislation.
Unlike other jurisdictions, there is nothing in the Misuse of Drugs Law that exempts products that contain only small amounts of cannabinoids, so unless a doctor has prescribed soap or milk that contains hemp, possessing and using it could land people in the Drug Court.
Dr Gent and Health Minister Sabrina Turner appeared on Radio Cayman’s talk show, On The Record, on Friday, when the issue was discussed.
The CMO said that retailers of hemp products had asked if they were getting ensnared within the law, and he did not know the answer. But he said products containing cannabinoids do fall under the law. “It is an absolute,” he said, explaining that there is nothing in the law about acceptable levels and retailers need to check with their suppliers about what is in their products.
No cannabinoids can be sold here legally without a prescription until legislators deal with the draconian and dated law.
“I am not in the business of shampoo,” he said, but he was aware that some retailers have stopped selling these products due to concern that they could get caught under the law. He said there is no definition here in Cayman that separates hemp from cannabis, as is the case in Florida, which may be why people think its use here is legal.
Dr Gent said he backed the legislation that provides for the use of cannabis on prescription, which is a “sensible and rational approach”. He said the peer-reviewed evidence for cannabis found that it is effective in a limited number of conditions; it is also good in symptom control and has a role in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and epilepsy in children. However, he noted the need to ensure that it was prescribed properly.
He said he did not want to talk about the use of hemp as that is not his field. Turner said that there needed to be a wider discussion about hemp and cannabinoids to shape a proper legislative framework.
Dr Gent also spoke about the action the PHD had taken regarding the more serious issues relating to the prescription of narcotics. He said rules had been introduced for doctors to only prescribe addictive medicines like opioids on a monthly basis, though he stressed this did not apply to all prescription drugs, just those that pose a risk of addiction.
Public concern has emerged that having to see a doctor in person every month for medications that they are taking regularly is unfair because people cannot afford to visit healthcare professionals that often, especially given the significant limitations on doctor visits in most health insurance plans.
