Jamaican medical ganja producer aiding St Vincent and the Grenadines in reviving ganja production

Jamaican medical ganja producer Pure Jamaican has rushed to aid St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) in reviving its local ganja industry, which was destroyed by La Soufrière volcano in April this year.

The Jamaican company has donated 10,000 premium, award-winning, feminised ganja seeds to SVG.

This represents the first legal export of ganja material from Jamaica to another Caricom country. The seeds were produced under a research & development initiative spearheaded by Pure Jamaican's Gi Life Farm and master grower, Ed Rosenthal; Benjamin Lind of Humboldt Seed Company and Dr Machel Emanuel, principal investigator of the Life Science Cannabis Research Group at The University of the West Indies.

The donation was presented to SVG's Medicinal Cannabis Authority (MCA) by Robert Wright, director of Pure Jamaican and chairman of the Gi Life Foundation. In accepting the generous donation, chief executive officer of SVG's MCA Dr Jerrol Thompson says, “the MCA of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines graciously accepts these high-performance feminised seeds, on behalf of the traditional cultivators of SVG. Many of the varieties and landraces, which existed in SVG were destroyed by the eruption of La Soufrière.”

Explaining that one of these landraces had originated from Jamaica, Dr Thompson adds, “this donation not only helps to rehabilitate the livelihoods and production capacity of these farmers, it will also improve the quality of the seeds as planting material specially designed for a tropical setting. May this historic and generous donation inspire even greater cooperation and serve as an example to the world.”

For his part, Dr Emanuel described the donation as “a true humanitarian gesture by Pure Jamaican to offer clean cannabis planting material in the form of feminised seeds of various cultivars that have been stabilised and bred for high THC production in an equatorial climate. This donation is also the first step in establishing the Caribbean cannabis economy where cannabis can cross regional jurisdictions legally.”

Chairman of Jamaica's Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), LeVaughn Flynn, commended Pure Jamaican and Gi Life for the contribution of premium seeds to the ganja community in SVG, noting that the country has a strong tradition of ganja cultivators and its very existence was threatened by the recent volcanic eruptions. “This donation is a strong statement and signals unity. It will be part of SVG's rebirth as it looks to carve its niche in the global cannabis industry,” the CLA said.

Source: Jamaica Observer

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