The St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Medicinal Cannabis Authority will host its inaugural “Cannabliss Festival” Nov. 1-3 at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex.
Speaking at the launching on Monday, Chief Executive Officer of the SVG Medical Cannabis Authority Dr. Jerrol Thompson said he was excited about the festival.
He said the festival will include the Rastafari community and an educational process that will help to reform people’s thinking about medicinal cannabis.
Thompson described the festival as “a serious educational event that will highlight the many benefits of medicinal cannabis.”
He said there will also be a high-level lecture series bringing together the best experts locally, regionally and internationally to talk about marijuana and to correct the misinformation that surrounds the plant.
Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves said that now the stigma related to marijuana has been removed, people can appreciate marijuana medicinally and scientifically, adding that this is a very important part of what they would be doing at the festival.
He added that the festival will celebrate the impact of marijuana on culture and the indispensable role of the traditional cultivator in developing SVG into a world-leading producer of marijuana.
Gonsalves said the festival will also advertise the excellence that SVG has achieved in its production, cultivation, dissemination and distribution in the embrace of cannabis as a plant and as a product.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Saboto Caesar welcomed the Cannabliss Festival and spoke of the contribution of traditional cannabis cultivators to food and nutrition security in SVG.
Caesar also recognised the work of Professor David Berry and Dr. Rose-Marie Belle Antoine in ensuring that the jurisprudential path was established.
He also praised the work of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves to ensure that SVG has “the best bundles of laws anywhere in the world” as it relates to medicinal cannabis.
Caesar said the government has EC$250,000 to provide direct production support to traditional cultivators and producers of cannabis who were affected by Hurricane Beryl.
He said the government is on a quest to take the medicinal cannabis industry in SVG to modern levels, adding that it is of utmost importance that they place the need for research and development at the centre of the industry.
This is the agriculture that a ministry in svg now caters for ,the revenue from it is great and so are the health benefits ,with rice and fresh fish it serves the country well,help keep mostly the young male in the country in check ,five at a time or on average two or more per week, way to go svg well done ! .
Personally I don’t use cannabis but I know the oil to be a very expensive product. A few drops of it cost lot of money depending on how pure it is.
The lowest level of paridinal larceny in the land with a prompt payment plan in place,government strong support and a hot lead base security ,the fastest growing commodity in the land run by well trained plant professionals and green food specialists well equip offices at ministry level they are ready to tackle any food shortage there is talk of in this country, rest assured . ( Oh St.Vincent where goes thou ? )
Medical cannabis is all about what is wrong and is a myopic view of the ministry of Agriculture. The ULP government has the wrong emphasis and as a result is synonymous with the Republicans party in running the government. Small wonder why we have the highest crime rate for any developing country. Folks the ULP shows signs of being lethargic. This is a natural phenomenon for a government who has overstay its mandate.
Abba Father, have pity on the young children in SVG, have mercy on them Lord.
The government is myopic, the cannabis industry is not a panacea for the problems that the agricultural industry is facing. With cannabis there will be more weed smoking. The effects of cannabis is well known and documented.
Hallucinations is a common side effects of smoking cannabis. There is not enough trained psychologist to deal with the people. God help us as we have a tunnel vision when it comes to agriculture. The ministry of Agriculture is the biggest failure of all rhe ministries in the state. I will award the ministry of agriculture a sumptuous score odlf 1.5 out of ten.