(Loop News) Prime Minister Philip J Pierre says his administration is taking the legalization of small quantities of marijuana step by step.
As of late 2021, the SLP administration legalized small quantities of marijuana to be used in Saint Lucia. Prime Minister Philip J Pierre says his administration is working towards progressing this as time goes on.
“We have formed a committee which a prominent businessman might head if he agrees. We have started with small quantities, and then we’ll deal with cannabis as an export crop and cannabis for medicinal purposes.”
As it stands, an individual is allowed to have four marijuana plants in their home.
In response to the legalization of cannabis and the progressive nature the SLP administration is planning to head, Minister for Agriculture Alfred Prospere says that while he is for the cannabis industry, Saint Lucia is not as advanced as Saint Vincent in exporting the plant.
St Vincent and the Grenadines is now the first member state of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to be granted permission to export medicinal cannabis.
On Friday, the government announced that the island would export its first shipment of medicinal cannabis to Europe.
The announcement follows the recent approval of the first export certificate for medicinal cannabis. The export permission was granted to Caribbean Cannabis Company trading as Medicinal.
“There’s a lot of value-added in terms of the cannabis industry, but we are not as advanced as Saint Vincent is now because they’re getting ready to make their first export out of the country, and we know Saint Vincent has been pushing this agenda for many years.”
Prospere says he hopes that the government will take similar measures in the future, and he will be in full support.
He says his biggest fear, however, lies with the forest resources.
He says “Climate change is impacting small islands like us, and our forest resources play a very critical role in terms of addressing climate change impacts.”
Prospere says while he firmly believes that there’s an urgent need to grow the cannabis industry, he hopes that it does not negatively impact the forest resources.
