Virtual Town Hall on Cannabis and Hemp Industry

A virtual town hall was held on Thursday night as part of a public consultation process on hemp and cannabis’s possibilities as a new growth industry in Belize. Regrettably, the discussion was not carried live by the media. Nonetheless, it was a healthy conversation discussing the benefits of legal cannabis cultivation. Several persons also participated in the discussion, including Alex Lavin who has been at the forefront of the discussion as an entrepreneur.  Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of New Growth Industries Kevin Arthurs led the discussion.

Kevin Arthurs

Kevin Arthurs, C.E.O., Ministry of New Growth Industries

“This conversation that we’ve been having in relation to cannabis has been a very long one.  I had the benefit of going through some of the past articles and paperwork in relation to the conversation, the national conversation on marijuana and cannabis and I realize that since 2015 we’ve had a decriminalization of marijuana committee that was active and in fact they tabled, I believe, a report and then that led to the passage of the Misuse of Drug Amendment Bill in 2017.  So the issue of recreational cannabis has been a legal decriminalized topic for at least three years.  So this is the matured and maturing context of that conversation.”

Alex Lavin

Alex Lavin, C.E.O., Growth Industries

“The hemp plant and the cannabis plants, even though they come from the same species and genetics, they do not coincide very well when you’re talking about commercial cultivation and reaching the standardization of a quality styled product.  And I say that because the majority of outdoor hemp turns into male or hermaphrodite plants of which if you have a cannabis farm somewhere near that vicinity, let’s just say call it a two and a half mile radius of that, then essentially you can jeopardize that farm.  So I can’t stress enough the difference that are hemp derived C.B.D. products and cannabis.”

Kareem Musa

Kareem Musa, Minister of New Growth Industries

“We have a small population in Belize, so let’s be real, it’s not Belizeans we’ll be catering to.  Who is our market, who are we catering to?  If it is that the one point two million tourists are coming into the country, is it that they are going to, like Mr. Lavin said, are they going to want to consume products that have pesticides?  Are they going to want to consume products that have powdery mildew?”