St. Vincent to host inaugural ‘Cannabliss Festival’

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Medicinal Cannabis Authority will host its inaugural “Cannabliss Festival” in November.

Chief Executive Officer of the SVG Medical Cannabis Authority, Dr. Jerrol Thompson, said he was excited about the November 1-3 festival which will include the Rastafari community and an educational process that will help to reform people’s thinking about medicinal cannabis.

Thompson described the festival as “a serious educational event that will highlight the many benefits of medicinal cannabis.”
He said there will also be a high-level lecture series bringing together the best experts locally, regionally and internationally to talk about marijuana and to correct the misinformation that surrounds the plant.

Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves said that now the stigma related to marijuana has been removed, people can appreciate marijuana medicinally and scientifically, adding that this is a very important part of what they would be doing at the festival.

He added that the festival will celebrate the impact of marijuana on culture and the indispensable role of the traditional cultivator in developing the country into a world-leading producer of marijuana.
Gonsalves said the festival will also advertise the excellence that St. Vincent and the Grenadines have achieved in its production, cultivation, dissemination and distribution in the embrace of cannabis as a plant and as a product.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister, Saboto Caesar, welcomed the Cannabliss Festival and spoke of the contribution of traditional cannabis cultivators to food and nutrition security here.
Caesar also recognised the work of Professor David Berry and Dr Rose-Marie Belle Antoine in ensuring that the jurisprudential path was established and praised the work of Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves in ensuring that the country has “the best bundles of laws anywhere in the world” as it relates to medicinal cannabis.

Caesar said the government has EC$250,000 (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) to provide direct production support to traditional cultivators and producers of cannabis who were affected by Hurricane Beryl.

He said the government is on a quest to take the medicinal cannabis industry here to modern levels, adding that it is of utmost importance that they place the need for research and development at the centre of the industry.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Sept 12, CMC
CMC/kc/ir/2024
 

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