IN a move to strengthen the local medical cannabis industry, the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) is now engaged in the process of protecting the “brand equity” of Jamaican ganja through the application of intellectual property (IP) as well as the recommendation of regulations and policies to increase investment.

CLA interim CEO Daenia Ashpole told reporters during a recent Jamaica Observer Business Forum that the Cannabis Industry Task Force, led by minister of state in the Ministry of industry, Investment and Commerce Dr Norman Dunn, is now reviewing the best approach to acquiring IP protection for the locally grown herb.

“Additionally, the CLA has started its own technical consultation internally to see what is the best IP protection,” she said, adding that the authority has considered registering the term “Jamaican ganja” as a geographical indicator.

Geographical indication (GI), according to the World Intellectual Property Organization, is a sign or name affixed to products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation based on their origin. Examples of GI include Champagne (sparkling wine) from France, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Italy, Idaho potatoes in the US, and Jamaican Jerk.

However, Ashpole argued that protecting Jamaican ganja would require a layered approach that would necessitate exploring options other than GI. To this end, she explained that local players in the medical cannabis industry will also need to get involved to protect their own products.

The CEO further pointed out that the CLA has started “discussing a technical assistance programme that would help individual cultivators or individual licensees appreciate the role of intellectual property in protecting their strains, which they would apply for through the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office.

“So that has started and you’ll see greater lobbying for protection of IP…But there are other IP protection like trademarks, which include the protection of the names our licensees are using. There is copyright protection and there are other types of IPs, but the conversation has started,” she elaborated.

Ashpole said, too, that Jamaica becoming a signatory to the Madrid Protocol in December 2021 also presented an opportunity for strengthening the Jamaica ganja brand.

According to chairman of the CLA LeVaugh Flynn, Jamaica is “known to produce high-quality strains [of cannabis] because of our climate and soil type”.

He added: “Persons still recognise the advantages to having a cannabis industry based in Jamaica and the brand equity that we have built up over the years through Rastafarian communities and through reggae music.”

He believes that greater protection of the local medical cannabis industry would also require greater collaboration between local stakeholders and indicating the opportunities for investment.

While noting that could not quantify the demand for Jamaican cannabis, he said that the demand for the drug can be ascertained through the number of shipments through retailers over the last year.

Since its establishment in 2021, CLA has issued 113 export authorisations, more than half of which it issued in 2021. So far, the entity has authorised exports to Germany, Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, Cayman Islands, Israel, Portugal, and Switzerland.

Moreover, the CLA has facilitated the trans-shipment of cannabis from St Vincent and the Grenadines via Jamaica to Germany.

“We want to maximise the opportunities that the medical cannabis industry provides,” Flynn told the Business Observer.

“We’ve been engaging the Pharmaceutical Society of Jamaica and the Medical Doctors Association of Jamaica because we believe that’s where the biggest opportunity is. Persons need greater access to cannabis by-products,” the CLA chairman continued.

The CLA, as a result, has been finalising policies and regulations that will allow more Jamaicans to access medical cannabis products through prescriptions.

This, Flynn said, would translate to “economic returns both for licenses and the country” and contribute to GDP.

He however cautioned that while CLA saw the medical cannabis industry as an economic enabler, contributor to public health and greater social inclusion, the authority was committed to the herb’s medical, scientific and therapeutic uses.

When asked if Jamaica was threatened by other Caribbean countries establishing their own medical cannabis industry, he responded: “No. A lot of the Caribbean countries have been using Jamaica as a benchmark or as a reference point to set up their own industries…Jamaica has its own value proposition no matter what another country does or their proximity to us.”