Barbados government promises Rastafarians 60 acres to grow marijuana

Marijuana Tomas de aqumo Flickr

News

Barbados government promises Rastafarians 60 acres to grow marijuana

17 September 2019

By Jamaica Observer

The Barbados government has given members of the Rastafarian movement the assurance that it has set aside at least 60 acres of land for its members to grow marijuana legally.

Agriculture Minister Indar Weir, speaking in parliament on Friday, is also promising the group that it would play a major role in establishing a medicinal cannabis industry.

But Weir told legislators that the proposed legislation spoke only to the use of medicinal cannabis.

“I feel the responsibility to make sure that we make it absolutely clear that what we are dealing with here is medicinal cannabis and we ought not to introduce the confusion that most people seem to be going through with regard to what is the decriminalisation of recreational cannabis.

In his presentation on the Medical Cannabis Bill 2019, Weir said that Barbadians would benefit from the establishment of a medical cannabis industry and that any foreign investors interested in becoming involved in the industry would have to allow Barbadians to own 30 per cent of its business.

“This is designed to make sure every last Barbadian is given a chance to participate. We're not just singling out one group, but that every group that has an interest will be part of this industry.