MONTEGO BAY, St James — Former President of Mexico Vicente Fox has urged Jamaica to maintain its responsible leadership of its nascent medicinal, therapeutic and scientific ganja industry.

“Now we see this cannabis industry — an incredible paradigm change. Now we put this beautiful plant in the hands of responsible people, of responsible entrepreneurs, of responsible farmers, responsible processors, responsible authorities. Congratulations, Jamaica, for the dynamism that the Government has implanted into this industry. What a gift to those now as a community are going to be building up this new industry; this new economic sector, new sector…” said the former Mexico president. “It has to break borders, it has to break walls,” Fox stated.

“I have been involved as an activist, not as a consumer in this industry, for over 10 years. I decided to jump in this arena to do something about my country and the blood and the loss of lives of more than 80,000 every year. I’ve been convinced that this is a way out for Mexico to generate wealth and jobs, and this is already happening, and happening very fast.”

He was speaking at the 2018 CanEx Jamaica Business Conference and Expo — a business-to-business (B2B) conference that brought together cannabis industry professionals from 20 countries at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Friday.

“Today, I know that the industry in Jamaica is in the hands of responsible people with a system of transparency, honesty and integrity. Without that the industry will fail,” Fox argued.

Senior advisor/strategist in the Ministry of Tourism and a director of the Cannabis Licensing Authority, and Jampro, Delano Seiveright noted that times are changing rapidly and Jamaica has to ensure that, “we are at the forefront, so that we can attain significant economic and social benefit, while respecting our laws.”

“Mexico, the third most populated country in the Western Hemisphere, behind the United States and Brazil, legalised cannabis for medicinal purposes last year. This is in line with 31 states in the United States and countries like Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru…,” Seivwright remarked.

Fox, meanwhile, said Mexico’s new government under Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will legalise recreational cannabis in 2019.

Fox, a strong supporter of the cannabis law reform in 2016, co-signed a letter to then United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon calling for more humane drug policies. He is strong in his views for legalisation.

T’Shura Gibbs, CEO of Jamaican licensed Cannabis company, Zimmer & Co, which sponsored more than 200 small farmers to attend the conference, was impressed with the stellar line-up of presenters and exhibitors at the event.

“The level of networking that took place between Jamaican businessmen and women, farmers, and policymakers with players in the industry from as much as 22 countries was nothing short of impressive. We were also impressed with the workshops for cultivators and medical practioners and we were honoured to have Dr Lumír Ondrej Hanuš, School of Pharmacy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, imparting quite a bit of knowledge too,” Gibbs said.

Meanwhile, CanEx founder and organiser, Douglas Gordon said the event has successfully created opportunities for the local farmers.

“Lawyers are flying into the island as soon as Monday (today) to continue the pursuit of business arrangements with Jamaican farmers and other business interests,” Gordon argued.

“I am also happy with the wide cross section of attendees ranging from folks at the top of the food chain, straight to small farmers. Our other lead speakers at the conference included former television talk show host and founder of Lenitiv Labs, Montel Williams; CEO of Canopy Growth Corporation, the largest cannabis company in the world, Bruce Linton; Industry Commerce and Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw; Czech billionaire and femocracy activist, Karel Janecek and many others were also amazing.”