A standoff between the Ministry of Health minister and a lobbyist of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has forced the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) to defend its research methodology which provided data suggesting increase ganja use among adolescents since possession of two ounces or less is no longer a criminal offence.

Yesterday, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton responded sharply to criticisms from CLA Director Delano Seiveright that the ministry and some of its officials were the biggest humbug to efforts of the CLA to advance ganja decriminalisation efforts in Jamaica. The NCDA provided data to the MOH for The Sunday Gleaner story titled 'Ganja babies'.

Ganja lobbyist and director of the Cannabis Licensing Authority, Delano Seiveright, has expressed suspicion over the latest data provided by the National Council on Drug Abuse about a 50 per cent increase in children seeking medical treatment after using the weed over the past two years.

"The Ministry of Health has bought into the propaganda data which has gone against data showing global trends which do not support findings in Jamaica.

Farmers in Jamaica are struggling to engage with the nation’s new medical marijuana (or ‘ganja’) scheme, according to a new study.

The findings of the study, conducted by a student at Writtle University College, have been shared in a press release from the International Journal of Drug Policy.

Study author Simon Jones reveals that, out of the over 180,000 registered farmers growing traditional crops in Jamaica, only 25 applications for ganja cultivation have been made. High licensing fees and other financial and infrastructural burdens have been cited as the main impediments to farmers.

DIRECTOR of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), Delano Seiveright has said that 2017 will be the year of action for cannabis locally.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer following last week’s story on the ganja farmer who outlined how cannabis is grown, prepared, sold, and who sought answers from the CLA, Seiveright said that he understands the concerns of the farmer, but encouraged the youngster and other ganja growers to get their licences as things will soon be looking up.

Start-up company Stony Hill Corporation, led by Damian Marley, has raised US$750,000 (J$96 million) to finance its sale of cannabis products.

That's according to the company's first set of financials since its reorganisation, released late February. Stony Hill began as a furniture business.

Marley will lead the restructured operation as president and CEO, with a team of eight employees based in Los Angeles, California in the United States. Marley holds the most shares in the company at 21 per cent. Jamaican born Damian, 38, is a Grammy-winning reggae/dancehall star known for songs like Set up Shop. He's also the youngest offspring of reggae legend Bob Marley.

The Cannabis Licensing Authority has announced that it issued conditional approval for three applicants – two for small cultivators under one acre, and a third for a small processing facility – in early January 2017. 

A release from the CLA on Tuesday disclosed that the granting of the conditional approval has come amidst concerns about the length of time the Authority has taken to review applications since passing its Regulations in May of last year.  

The Authority is maintaining, however, that the time taken to review the applications is required to ensure that proper due diligence is done and that people being put forward for conditional approval are fit and proper. 

Research scientists, led by Dr Henry Lowe, say they have discovered properties in Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the major bioactive compounds in the cannabis (ganja) plant, that have the potential to provide affordable treatment as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals for hepatitis C.

Information on the new discovery can be found in the latest issue (January - March 2017) of Pharmacognosy Research, a publication of Pharmacognosy Network Worldwide, making it subject to peer review.

More than a dozen applications to register ganja or marijuana trademarks are before the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), but the status of most is still pending.

There are two herbal teas, two ganja cafes, a number of festival trademarks and clothing lines, including a Ganja Babie, in JIPO's database.

Trademarks represent the physical brand or logo associated with a business entity. And companies tend to be protective of their names - for example, one of the trademark applications in Jamaica was dropped after social media company Instagram LLC objected.

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