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  • Intoxicating Financial Prospects For Ganja Trade - Changing

    Intoxicating Financial Prospects For Ganja Trade - Changing Foreign Laws Seen As Business Opportunity
    Published: Sunday | January 12, 2014 1 Comment
    Delano Seiveright, director of the Ganja Law Reform Coalition. - File
    Delano Seiveright, director of the Ganja Law Reform Coalition. - File
    Richard Browne, Business Reporter

    The legalisation of marijuana for recreational purposes in the state of Colorado, United States, has pushed prices up to US$400 (J$42,448) per ounce as demand quickly outpaced supply in that market.

    The price spike has created a differential between legal Colorado marijuana and the illegal Jamaican product of some $41,988 per ounce, and has given even greater impetus to the drive to legalise the crop here.

    Those efforts were previously held back as Jamaica was "always concerned about US policy", said Delano Seiveright, director for the Ganja Law Reform Coalition.

    But the movement has been gathering strength over the last two years, since the US states of Colorado and Washington started to legalise marijuana in 2012, Seiveright said.

    Tourism would be one of the industries to benefit most if and when ganja is legalised here. Then, visitors could legally use ganja for recreational purposes "creating many business opportunities for Jamaicans", he said.

    But not just for farmers, as marketing is a key element of the marijuana industry, which produces many different strains with variations in chemical make-up affecting quality and strength.

    Marketers could have their work cut out for them, however.

    "Jamaican ganja is no longer considered as highly as before," said Seiveright, who travelled to Colorado recently and met with several people in the marijuana industry there.

    Experts there told him that there was concern about the quality of ganja here, as it was "not as good as it should be" and would require some "rehabilitation" of the various strains, he told Sunday Business.

    Still, the demand in Colorado alone is so high that shops have been running out of the product, suggesting there is room for legal suppliers to trade higher volumes of the weed.

    Locally produced ganja currently sells in Jamaica for about J$500 per ounce. That equates to US$4.72 per ounce, or just over a per cent of what Americans now pay for the legal product in Colorado.

    The issue is still a prickly one, however, and not all sources were quite as forthcoming as Seiveright.

    An official connected to the Ministry of Agriculture's commodity boards said he had "no interest" in considering any aspect of the marijuana trade in Jamaica, nor how the development in Colorado could affect the industry here.

    The commodity boards are only concerned with the legal stimulants of coffee and cocoa, as well as with coconuts and spices such as pimento - no herbs.

    Ganja in Jamaica is usually sold in small quantities for $100 per purchase, which is enough to make three 'spliffs' or cigarettes, authoritative sources told Sunday Business.

    The cost per pound is $7,000 to $8,000 (US$66 to US$75), though the price "depends on potency".

    Under Colorado's new law, marijuana can be sold like alcohol, with residents able to buy up to one ounce, and non-residents a quarter of an ounce.

    The sale of the drug is taxed in the same way as alcohol, and state officials have said they expect to raise hundreds of millions in revenue from the business activity.

    The levy comprises a 15 per cent excise tax and a 10 per cent sales tax. The first US$40m to be earned from taxation is to be used for school construction, according to The Denver Post, from Colorado.

    More than 130 businesses in Colorado applied for the licence to sell cannabis, mainly in the capital of Denver, according to the BBC. The state has a population of about twice the size of Jamaica, with 5.2 million people, and Denver has a population of about 630,000.

    In Colorado, although marijuana is now legal for both medicinal and recreational use, there can be a large price differential between the two. A one-eighth ounce of a marijuana product, called 'Girl Scout Cookies', recently sold for US$50 plus US$14.25 in taxes, for a total of US$64.25, according to specialist magazine High Times. But if bought with a prescription the cost would be halved.

    PRICE CONTROL

    Uruguay, where the state has legalised the drug and taken control of the market, has set the price of marijuana at around US$1 per gram. That translates to about US$28 per ounce.

    The South American country is weighing exports of the drug to Latin American markets, forcing new conversation on drug policies inside some of those countries.

    Medical marijuana is currently legal in 20 US states, and at least three more are moving towards legalisation, said Seiveright, including New York, Alaska and Florida.

    In Europe, the Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Spain and Portugal have legalised the herb to some extent.

    Closer to home, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico are the "next places to watch", said the ganja coalition director.

    Inside Jamaica, ganja farmers plan to launch their own association at the University of the West Indies later this month.

    richard.browne@gleanerjm.com
    THERE IS ONLY ONE ONANDI LOWE!

    "Good things come out of the garrisons" after his daughter won the 100m Gold For Jamaica.


    "It therefore is useless and pointless, unless it is for share malice and victimisation to arrest and charge a 92-year-old man for such a simple offence. There is nothing morally wrong with this man smoking a spliff; the only thing wrong is that it is still on the law books," said Chevannes.

  • #2
    The clueless amongst us ,here you have a nation in bankruptcy and this is the tone of some in government,in an arm that will play a pivotal role when its legalised.Too comfortable in his position,nonprogressive comfortable with IMF/Worldbank loans.

    An official connected to the Ministry of Agriculture's commodity boards said he had "no interest" in considering any aspect of the marijuana trade in Jamaica, nor how the development in Colorado could affect the industry here.

    Not interested in R&D or cost analysis or benefit.Simple math will tell you that 10 million in US aid for the war on drugs doesnt compare to a 100m us annualy in Ganja aid,only coffe ,cocoa and spices as if its doing well.
    Last edited by Sir X; January 12, 2014, 11:11 AM.
    THERE IS ONLY ONE ONANDI LOWE!

    "Good things come out of the garrisons" after his daughter won the 100m Gold For Jamaica.


    "It therefore is useless and pointless, unless it is for share malice and victimisation to arrest and charge a 92-year-old man for such a simple offence. There is nothing morally wrong with this man smoking a spliff; the only thing wrong is that it is still on the law books," said Chevannes.

    Comment


    • #3
      Clearing The Ganja Smoke
      Published: Sunday | January 12, 2014 0 Comments
      Ronald Mason, Contributor

      Ganja, weed, herb, cannabis, marijuana, the same plant by any name, on being lit, produces a pungent smoke, and other effects. The benefits and dangers of this plant are now very topical.

      The United States and Canada seem to be in a hurry to make access, use and social acceptance on par with some European countries. What is most ironic is we at home have had the world's most renowned quality and never-ending quantities, yet we quibble daily as to how it should be utilised.

      Colorado had 600-plus applications in seven days for persons wishing to trade legally in the matter. Rationing has become a feature because of unexpectedly high demand.

      The Ganja Law Reform Coalition in Jamaica reports that it is the third most popular recreational drug on the planet behind only alcohol and tobacco, and is used by millions. More than 20 states now roll a little spliff and take a whiff. Ah, one draw. We, however, continue to be in denial as to the income potential and great public acceptance. Criminalisation remains the order of the day.

      We raise the issue of harmful health effects. Yet there is no hard, persuasive data that the use of ganja is a gateway to hard drugs usage, not much evidence of negative psychosis or reduction in fertility rates, etc. The Lancet, the well-known and respected British medical journal stated, "The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health ... it would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat than alcohol or tobacco."

      THC buzz

      The use of ganja is widespread. People seek the effects of the THC found in the weed to induce a high. The same buzz, high, is sought from the use of alcohol. However, ganja is not toxic, alcohol poisoning and death are more likely. In response to our laws we are reaping immature ganja plants and thus in danger of losing our pride of place as the source of the preferred weed.

      It is widely known that ganja tea offers medicinal value, devoid of all the scientific processing which precedes medication such as cannasol. Those of us who know the difference between boiling tea and drawing tea will understand the ganja preparation process. Soaked in another Jamaican staple, white rum to wet the brow or to take a small wineglass to relieve a malady is another well-known use in our society.

      Let us stop fooling ourselves about ganja. Legislators need to find a way to deal with those long-ago signed treaties that still bind us. We need to get real and seriously and urgently investigate all the economic potential of ganja as a serious analytical exercise. The 'black market' (better yet, unregulated enterprises) continues unabated. Crime and corruption (police, soldiers, ports, traders) are daily features of our lives. If we legalise ganja, I would not be surprised if our productivity levels were to rise upon the release of entrepreneurial activity. Government would do well to regulate, tax, control and educate the society and visitors alike as to how they may partake of this crop to be found growing in every parish of our country.

      What would the future hold for a Jamaica with legalised cannabis? Where would the disciples come from in the search for the 'appropriate business model' designed to cash in on what we hope would be insatiable demand for the best cannabis in the world?

      It is more likely that we would have more ganja cultivators than phonecard vendors or newspaper peddlers, each proclaiming that they have had a long family tradition in this agricultural venture.

      Of course, the contrary would more likely be true, but just imagine the plight of the constabulary whose help is being sought by the landed gentry to remove the ganja squatters. The mainstream agricultural crops would now be competing for and losing the battle to be grown on fertile lands. The cassava, sorghum and corn would not stand a chance, much to the dismay of Red Stripe, Caribbean Broilers and Jamaica Broilers. Suddenly, we would have a favourable trade surplus with the US, even in the likelihood that all our food was now to be imported. Is it too much jesting to see us asking the tourist to pay for their ganja tours, not in currency, but in food?

      The above flight of fantasy was born of the hype to be found in a society that can seriously place on the front page of the national newspaper that an association will be launched to promote the interest of the ganja community. Then again, this is Jamaica.

      The Parliament has proposed legislation. When will the matter be resolved? I am a proponent that we should legalise, not just decriminalise. This is as good a place as any to state that I personally do not smoke cigarette or ganja. Now, do not pull back the curtain and ask for a review of the teenage years, as I would be forced to say I may even have inhaled, unlike a former president of the US. Is the smoke lifting?

      Ronald Mason is a US immigration attorney, mediator and talk-show host. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and nationsagenda@gmail.com.
      THERE IS ONLY ONE ONANDI LOWE!

      "Good things come out of the garrisons" after his daughter won the 100m Gold For Jamaica.


      "It therefore is useless and pointless, unless it is for share malice and victimisation to arrest and charge a 92-year-old man for such a simple offence. There is nothing morally wrong with this man smoking a spliff; the only thing wrong is that it is still on the law books," said Chevannes.

      Comment

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