Header: Dr. Lynwood Brown
The Nassau Guardian
The Chairman of the Bahamas Cannabis Licensing Authority Chairman Dr. Lynwood Brown said on the sidelines of the “Truth About Cannabis” forum, held at the University of the Bahamas (UB) on Thursday last week, that the authority expects to “go live” with the issuing of medical cannabis licenses on July 1.”
Dr. Lynwood Brown told Guardian Business that: “Once the framework is completed before the end of the summer, we will try to go live on July 1. Short of weather and short of legislative difficulties because there are some legislative changes that would have to be made, particularly to the Pharmacy Act, but short of that we should go live on July 1.”
Brown also said there is no one pre-applying or making formal inquiries on the status of the authority’s online application portal as yet.
“We wouldn’t think of addressing any individual or entity before we go live. We cannot even give people the belief that they can apply now, it would be misleading and disingenuous to do so.”
Attorney General Ryan Pinder said at UB’s recent Legal Week that the government should begin issuing licenses for cannabis in the second quarter of this year.
Dr. Marvin Smith, Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association president, who was a panelist at the “Truth About Cannabis” forum, said: “Some of the regulations need to be fleshed out. I think there needs to be some additional regulations in regard to actual product information, and then we need to start putting together a proper protocol for imports, even though we don’t have that for exports now. It might be down the road, but we need to start on imports.
“We need to be able to say this is what we’re bringing in, and not just simply say if another jurisdiction approves it being what it is and that’s fine.
“We need to know what our standards are, because it allows Bahamians to then go and get cannabis from wherever in the world once it meets the standard.
“We need to stop creating these track roads right where we should be creating broad highways for people to access the products.”
Smith added that there needs to be more public forums on the issue. “If the government isn’t going to do it, the private sector should. We were able to do this forum via a partnership between the Medical Association of The Bahamas and Arawak Media Group, and we need more of this, we need to talk to people and educate them about something that’s coming. This is more than just a talking point. We have to make sure people understand the options that are available to them, not just in terms of treatment, but in terms of the business side of cannabis.”
Smith does not believe that there will be a viable cannabis tourism market. He explained: “There are so many places in North America where people could go and get any kind of medical cannabis therapy they want, and it will cost them 100 times less than to come here. Anybody that thinks you will have a horde of people coming in to do that, it’s not happening. What we need to be prepared to build here is a local industry that supports local supply and patients, and to export to some of those places.”
