Dear Editor,

I am like the voice crying in the wilderness. When will

Jamaica wake up to the reality that we are losing

billions of dollars in the marijuana trade?

It is amazing that the United States has

decriminalised medical marijuana in 16 states, and

some states have decriminalised non-medical marijuana.

Our coffers could be fattened from legal marijuana taxes,

and from export. We could look to export to Holland, South Africa,

Australia, Ireland, Canada, Japan and even the United

States.

It is said that one acre of hemp or marijuana can

produce 80 barrels of clean-burning non-toxic

biodiesel fuel. Do the maths: marijuana plants mature in

six to eight weeks. These plants ensure a nitrogen-rich

soil, hardly any fertilisers are needed and we are assured

that the more we plant them the more the soil is enriched.

Consider the Co2 that is sequestered by these plants.

Even more amazing is that the United Kingdom has

registered industrial hemp farmers, who currently export

the outer and inner parts of the stems to several

countries that use this material to make paper, cloth,

furniture, plyboard and hempcrete, which is supposed to

be eco-friendly and much stronger than concrete.

The seed, which produces Omega 3, 6, and 9, is now popped

like pop corn and is cereal for many in Europe. Milk is

also extracted from the seeds, thus, hemp milk is also for

sale.

Two top designers are now using hemp fabric.

California is making billions of dollars from medical

marijuana, so why is Jamaica still in the blocks?

Our government should get to work and investigate,

decriminalise, and find a way to fatten our coffers from

the marijuana trade.

Our farmers should be planting and reaping for export

instead of being lured into the guns-for-drugs trade.

Verna Gordon Binns

theashton@cwjamaica.com