Multi-million Dollar Medical Cannabis Facility to be Built in Jamaica

 [dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap] company called Castleblack is in the licensing phase of developing a multi-million dollar medical cannabis business in Islington, Jamaica and the project expected to be in full operation later this year.

The 100,000-square-foot property will house 32 greenhouses, a 60,000-square-foot lab and a 15,000-square-foot main office and residence for guests and doctors. The project is expected to be built starting in March/April.

Aron Cadeau is CEO of Castleblack, based out of Ontario, Canada. “Our whole goal is to show that Jamaica is the best producer of marijuana in the entire Caribbean and potentially the world. Our market is Canada, Europe, Australia, and that’s who we want to be selling to as soon as the regulations are done and the Government actually approves the exportation of the product,” Cadeau told the Jamaica Observer.

Cadeau explained that the end goal is exporting medical cannabis to Europe and Canada, where Castleblack has established sister companies. “As soon as they do that we want to show that Jamaica can be an actual player in this industry. So far, because of the tie-ups and the regulations, the inability to act is slowing things down, unfortunately. It’s time that we started realising the benefits of the plant and how it can help everybody. We are going to be cultivating, manufacturing, testing, and we are partnering with The University of the West Indies so that we can do research projects with them,” he said.

The investment could bring jobs to up to 75 people in the area. So far, residents in the Islington and Nut Field areas in Jamaica appear to be thrilled about the development opportunities. As Rastafari plays a heavy role in Jamaica’s culture, cannabis is mostly socially acceptable (but not to the police). The island nation is finally embracing medical cannabis and companies are beginning to announce their first harvests.