THE opening of a local firm that will extract marijuana’s medicinal components for commercial purposes has been met with praises by Jamaica Observer online readers. The company, Medicanja, is the brainchild of local researcher Dr Henry Lowe. At Tuesday night’s opening of the company at Eden Gardens in Kingston, Dr Lowe urged the Governmnent to seriously consider a medical marijuana industry as a means to take Jamaica out of the economic doldrums. And, online readers are in support of his call. Here are some edited comments:

higla

We seem to be our own worst enemies… unable to see the forest for the trees. I have lived in Canada for 48 yrs. We were the first to export certain fruits to Canada. For whatever reasons, we were not consistent and allowed others to take over… June plums from Peru, jack fruit from Vietnam, tamarind from China.We have not made proper use of what we have. Maybe we have too much. What we don’t have is an abundance of medical personnel, but we are going into medical tourism, 19th century washrooms in some schools, and we spend to look for gold and oil. Reggae is ours, but the biggest reggae festivals are in Europe… Marley said it,”Wake up and live. He also said “stiff-necked fools”.

Jamarek

Bravo, Sir. That brings Jamaica further, economical wise. The weed of wisdom dweet again… lol! Now the government needs a touch of it.

johnchristian

Great news Dr Henry Lowe. That strain of the plant has been developed with less THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). A group in the NW has patents on it… this strain is being used in clinical trials and the non-psychotic compounds have been isolated.

Aqiyl Aniys

@johnchristian: I think the strain with high THC are needed. I have read so many testimonials of people curing cancer using cannabis oil and high THC strains are used.

Marli

Kudos to Dr Lowe. Hope this goes a long way.

disqus_RNiAp3JyZG

We, black people, never see the point ’til a white man tell us it is right. The Jamaican government will never agree to something like this ’til the IMF (international Monetary Fund) tell them it is right.

Calusa

Will this be for export only or can Jamaicans get access for medical treatment? My eye doctor told me that the eye drops aren’t much help. Better to smoke the actual weed… but the medical industry can certainly boost the economy.

Stafford

The bottom line here is a lack of leadership; We need leaders with a deep understanding of what it takes to compete over the next 50 years.

blackconservative

Does Jamaica, after 50 years of “independence”, ever understand the basic concept of business? Marijuana medicinals… the next “big thing”. Jamaica… are you still there? Dr Lowe, you could “offer” your business elsewhere for a ” price”.

Steven Smith

Sounds good.

smaddy

And to think that there are parts of Jamaica where this wonder plant grows and the quality is out of this world, exceptional! Naturally blessed ganja, coffee, ginger, etc. Wi nah sell out roun yah suh!

Mohamed Habib Hamza

I can give a lot of help for this company.