Industry sources told MJBizDaily that Health Canada, which regulates imports and exports of cannabis, has not allowed commercial medical cannabis into the country and has offered little explanation as to why. 

Jamaica will make a formal appeal to the Canadian government “for this unfortunate position to be reviewed,” Audley Shaw, Jamaica’s minister of industry, commerce, agriculture and fisheries, noted in a statement to MJBizDaily. “It appears manifestly clear that the refusal of the Canadian government to allow the importation of commercial quantities of marijuana from Jamaica is putting the investment of several Canadian investors in Jamaica at risk,” Shaw said. 

Alexandra Chong, CEO of Caribbean medical cannabis company Jacana, said her company has worked with several Canadian licensed producers to get an import permit, but have not received any “clear guidance as to why it is not possible.”

Chong told MJBizDaily that “in the continued absence of guidance from Health Canada, one can only assume that there is an element of protectionism at play regarding medical cannabis importation.”

In 2019, Canada exported more than 5,000 litres of cannabis oil products and almost 4,000 kilograms of flower, most of which went to Australia and Germany. Under Canada’s Cannabis Regulations, only licence-holders may import or export cannabis, and only for medical or scientific purposes. Imports or exports for distribution or sale for non-medical use is prohibited.

George Smitherman, head of the Cannabis Council of Canada, told MJBizDaily that he is in favour of “initiatives that preserve this market for invested Canadian players.”

Said Smitherman, “I think it’s a no-brainer to say that’s not something we need to be importing, and it should be no surprise that we’re exporting it, because we’re the leading nation with tremendous expertise in the cultivation and production of medicinal cannabis.”