Why Jamaica’s Cannabis Symposium is Attracting High-Ranking Government Officials

On September 2, 2016, scientists, politicians and pioneers in the cannabis industry will gather in Montego Bay Convention Centre in Montego Bay, Jamaica for the Cannabis Business Conference and Symposium hosted by CanEx. Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett and Minister of Transport and Mining Mike Henry will attend as well as Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) board member Delano Seivwright.

Jamaica could lead the Caribbean in cannabis research, thanks to partially decriminalized cannabis. The University of the West Indies has revived its cannabis research program originally launched in the 1970s. Last year, UWI, along with Jamaica’s Minister of Justice, symbolically planted legal strains of cannabis. Jamaica’s Minister of Finance Audley Shaw also recently described a sense of urgency in an emotional speech to move forward with the scientific development of medicinal cannabis.

The event’s international speakers include Mount Sinai’s Dr Yasmine Hurd, a Jamaican native, Israeli Boaz Whachtel and former NFL star Lance Johnston. It was Boaz Whachtel who co-founded Phytotech Medical, the first publicly traded company in Australia. Davide Fortin, an expert in the cannabis industry, will also speak as a featured guest. Fortin’s study, Cannabis Cannibalization, addresses the ways recreational cannabis has impacted actual patients within the medical industry.

Douglas Gordon is the events director for CanEx. “We have been reaching out to a number of the different associations directly, to some of the industry players, some of the companies that already have footprint here in Jamaica and to individual investors, individual businesspeople who have an interest in the industry,” Gordon told the Jamaica Observer.

“What we want to do is bring together different parts of the industry.”

The goal of the symposium is to educate men and women in Jamaica about the global status of medical cannabis. Attendees can expect to get a better understanding of the cannabis industry as well as the unrivaled opportunity for networking.

The following weekend, attendees can extend the celebration with the sounds of reggae with Ky-mani Marley, Rick Ross, Lee “Scratch” Perry and more at the High Vibes Roots and Reggae Festival. Find out more about the symposium here.