History will be made on Monday, as the country will be handing over its first official Cannabis License.
The Medicinal Cannabis Authority (the “MCA” or “Authority”) of Antigua and Barbuda which was established in 2019 pursuant to the Antigua and Barbuda Cannabis Act 2018 and Cannabis Regulations 2019, will hand over the first License for the production of Cannabis for Medicinal use to GROW Antigua.
GROW Antigua is a joint initiative between the Rastafarian Food For Life (RFFL), NAMCO, and Itopia Life Antigua Ltd.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place at 2pm at the Grow Antigua facility in Seatons Village.
Running a medical marijuana operation in Antigua and Barbuda costs an investor a whopping EC$325,000 in a license fee.
At the beginning the year, the government said it had received five applications for licenses and one provisional license had been granted. The government warned that there would be no waivers on the license fee.
The law intends that for religious purposes, cannabis grown by approved Rastafarian groups, will not have those fees applied, but will still be required to abide by other strictures as articulated in the law.
The Cannabis Board requires an injection of funds and seven employees to allow it to function.
The employees will be drawn from government departments, since there are to be no new hirings within the public sector, and funds will be provided to allow this sector to begin to yield returns as anticipated when the law was adopted.