Canadian company, Global Canna Labs (GCL) has received approval from the Jamaican Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) to commence commercial medical cannabis sales domestically to licensed dispensaries.

The company has announced the sale of 46.5 kilograms of dried medical cannabis products in the local dispensaries since their formal approval late in March. GCL’s investor, LGC Capital Limited says it has been receiving regular domestic sales inquiries and anticipates a surge in demand for GCLs’ products.

LGC also advises that GCL has planted most of its 6.2- acre site in Montego Bay and expects to commence harvesting, under CLA supervision, two sectional harvests per month from various phases of crop growth and various cannabis strains, with the first of these bi-monthly harvests scheduled for April 10.

In anticipation of increased demand for its products, GCL has disclosed that it will open two dispensaries and an extraction facility in the near future.

GCL is one of a few Tier-3 licencees in Jamaica with approvals for the cultivation and production of over 5 acres of medical cannabis.

“This is a tremendous achievement for the team in Jamaica. We have seen many achievements within Global Canna Labs since LGC became a cornerstone funder of this exciting company. We see them continuing to expand and grow at their facility in Montego Bay, as the market demand grows. Senior LGC management recently toured the Montego Bay facility to witness operations almost at full planting capacity and witnessed the results of the first harvests,” Mazen Haddad, co-chairman and CEO of LGC Capital said.

“There is still scope to infill sections of the 6.2-acre site before looking to expand beyond the existing secured growing areas. We see Jamaica as a very key growth market in the area and can see considerable expansion opportunities for Global Canna Labs as a Jamaican leader in their field, as the domestic and internal markets for Jamaica’s special brand of organic sativa strains and find their place in the market,” Haddad continued.

LGC has a secured debenture, convertible into a 30 per cent strategic interest in GCL and a 5 per cent royalty on GCL’s net sales.

Through its partners and following approval on pending transactions currently under review by the Toronto Stock Exchange, LGC will have interest in over 450,000 square feet of planted cannabis in Jamaica, Switzerland, Italy, and Australia. That is expected to increase to over 2,100,000 square feet by 2021, as its portfolio companies execute their expansion plans, in addition to the anticipated licensing of Tricho-Med’s operations in Quebec, Canada.

LGC partners currently sell cannabis products in over 1,000 points of sale across Switzerland and Italy under the ONE Premium Cannabis and EasyJoint brands as well as medical cannabis oils in Australia under the Little Green Pharma brand. LGC’s partners’ branded products are available in a variety of formats including dry cannabis flower, tinctures, oils, seeds, and beverages.