High licensing costs are keeping medicinal cannabis cultivation out of reach for small farmers, the industry’s chief regulator acknowledged on Friday, while stigma and advertising restrictions hamper the industry’s development.
The chief executive of the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority, Shanika Roberts-Odle, acknowledged that the financial requirements can prove prohibitive for small farmers seeking to enter the sector.
Addressing concerns about a five-year tier-one cultivation licence costing approximately $29 700, Roberts-Odle told Barbados TODAY that doing business comes at a cost.
She broke down the figures to show that the investment amounts to about $495 a month over five years.
Roberts-Odle said: “So, yes, it is prohibitive. I’m not saying that it’s not going to be prohibitive for a small man coming up and the access to capital would be amazing, but the truth of the matter is it does take money to make money.”
Defending the need for structured compliance, safety measures and pooled resources, she suggested that groups of farmers could combine their capital to get started. She emphasised that building a sustainable framework takes time and careful planning.
Beyond the initial financial hurdles, the industry still faces stigma in both healthcare and employment.
Roberts-Odle highlighted how patients face institutional barriers from the medical consultation stage: “The stigma starts with the person who goes to their oncologist and says, I want to be able to try this and the oncologist says: ‘I don’t know anything about that; we’re dealing with your therapy right now; leave that out.’”
This reluctance often leaves patients waiting until conventional options are exhausted before turning to cannabis-based therapies that could have provided earlier relief, she noted.
Working professionals also face repercussions after obtaining medicinal cannabis status, with employers frequently treating hard-working staff as though they had not spent decades dedicated to their jobs, she added.
Public perception and advertising restrictions have also slowed broader acceptance and market growth. Roberts-Odle said the industry was significantly hindered by the “indiscriminate smoking of cannabis in public”, alongside a broader lack of public respect for the plant and personal conduct.
Compounding these challenges are strict pharmaceutical advertising laws that restrict visual displays of actual products, leaving consumers unable to easily identify what they are looking for.
Comparing the sector with mainstream medical advertising, she said: “You can go at any point in time and see Viagra’s ad on 20 million TVs and across the internet. It isn’t the same way with medicinal cannabis grown in Barbados.”
Despite these difficulties, regulatory bodies and industry figures are pursuing legislative reform, continued expansion in research and development, and regional harmonisation with CARICOM partners.
While public eagerness for rapid progress is high, Roberts-Odle stressed that developing a robust and sensible industry requires patience and careful navigation.
Describing the industry’s pace of development, she said: “You have to sometimes you have to tiptoe, sometimes you have to crawl and drag your foot, sometimes you have to steadily walk, and then sometimes maybe you’ll be able to run.”
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