St. Vincent gets ganja seeds from Jamaica

The Pure Jamaican group of companies (Pure Jamaican) has announced the donation of 10,000 premium, award-winning, feminised cannabis seeds to St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). 

The gift is in response to the damage caused by the eruption of La Soufriere in April, which devastated the germplasm of licensed traditional cultivators in SVG who were located in close proximity to the volcano. 

Jerrol Thompson, chief executive officer of SVG’s Medicinal Cannabis Authority (MCA)  accepted the seeds on behalf of traditional cultivators of marijuana in the country. 

“Many of the varieties and landraces which existed in SVG were destroyed by the eruption of La Soufriere. One of these landraces had originated from Jamaica. 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, Thompson said. 

The seeds were produced under a research and development initiative spearheaded by Pure Jamaican’s Gi Life Farm and Master Grower Ed Rosenthal, Benjamin Lind of Humboldt Seed Company, and Machel Emanuel, principal Investigator of the Life Science Cannabis Research Group at the University of the West Indies.

 The donation was presented to MCA by Robert Wright, director of Pure Jamaican and Chairman of the Gi Life Foundation. 

LeVaughn Flynn, chairman of Jamaica’s Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), commended Pure Jamaican and Gi Life for the contribution of premium seeds to the cannabis community in SVG. 

“SVG has a strong tradition of cannabis 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.” 

Emanuel added: “This is a true humanitarian gesture by Pure Jamaican to offer clean cannabis planting material in the form of feminized seeds of various cultivars that have been stabilized 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.” 

Diane Edwards, president of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) said her organisation was thrilled to  work with the Pure Jamaican group of companies in this effort to stimulate growth in SVG and the CARICOM region. 

“Pure Jamaican and Dr. Machel Emanuel have extremely high standards for modern botanical cultivation. We also hope this is of great economic benefit to SVG,” she said. 

Pure Jamaican Co-Founder and CEO Scott Cathcart said, “We are honored to be able to assist SVG in re- starting their medical cannabis industry. The world is increasingly discovering the gifts that cannabis can give, and we hope this gift of premium genetics can not only help produce medicine for patients in SVG but also lead to tremendous economic opportunity for the country.”