KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Spokesperson on Finance Mark Golding today told the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament that the cannabis sector needs full governmental support if Jamaica is to take advantage of the growing global industry.

Golding was speaking in Gordon House at the second sitting of the Standing Finance Committee which is dissecting the 2018/2019 Budget.

The member of Parliament for St Andrew South singled out the Ministry of Health as not being fully cooperative in the approval process and said the composition of the current Cannabis Licensing Board is properly constructed and represents a wide range of stakeholders both private and public.

“We get the feeling that the industry is not wholly supported by the government. The issue that is plaguing the approval process is that the Ministry of Health is problematic,” he said.

According to Golding, government bureaucracy has turned off a number of overseas investors.

He noted that Germany, which does not grow cannabis, has recently approved their doctors prescribing the plant as part of medical treatment.

“We are missing out on that industry. We need the government to show that they are at one on the matter,” argued Golding.

The matter of the controversial weed was raised when Opposition member and Central Manchester MP Peter Bunting indicated that the amount of money projected to be earned from ganja licensing was not indicative of growth in the industry.

Bunting said that two licenses have been approved so far and more can be done to encourage growth in the industry.