Canadian marijuana company woos cabinet

The government has not decided which entity will head the commercial farming and medical sale of marijuana project in Antigua and Barbuda.
Government’s chief of staff, Lionel Max Hurst said yesterday that the Cabinet was impressed with the latest marijuana presentation by a medical marijuana company, headquartered in Canada.
“We have had a number of those firms come before us and those firms that can operate freely and lawfully in Canada have been the most dominant and that’s because they have the most experience with their labs that convert the part of the plant into the medicines,” he said.
Last week, a Canadian medical marijuana firm made a proposal for the establishment of a production facility in Antigua.
The firm said that they would contribute the US $18.7 million annually to the government in taxes, fees, licences and export duties for every 25 acres it could harvest.
Hurst told OBSERVER media that while the firm was the most impressive team, the selection is based on a number of factors.
“It is very difficult to tell since there were so many teams coming to Cabinet with proposals, but, I would say they were one of the strong teams. I could say that there are the best or number two, I couldn’t tell you because the decision is going to be made by Cabinet. I can clearly say that they were impressive,” he stated.
The Canadian company’s investment would exceed US $8 million in machines and US $3 million in buildings, patent use, the purchase of seeds, security of farms and other expenses.
Hurst said that distinguishes the Canadian team from the others.
The Cabinet asked the firm’s representatives to provide a more detailed plan next Wednesday. In the meantime, 25 acres of farmland could be identified for possible cultivation by local farmers.