Canadian company invests $2 million to preserve Jamaica’s native weed strains
0 replies, posted
https://merryjane.com/news/canadian-company-invests-2-million-to-preserve-jamaicas-native-weed-strains
Despite decades of local cultivation and cultural associations, cannabis has been illegal in Jamaica for over 100 years. Even after legalizing medical marijuana in 2015, the Caribbean
nation did not produce a legal pot crop until February of this year. Now, as the small island’s legal weed industry begins to grow, a Canadian cannabis company is spending a pretty
penny to make sure that Jamaica’s native strains are documented and preserved in the face of inevitable genetic twists.
According to Forbes, Jamaica Medical Cannabis Corporation Ltd. (JMCC), a fully licensed Canadian exporter of Jamaican cannabis, has invested $2 million in a partnership with
Jamaican charitable organization the National Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology (NFDST) to identify and catalogue the island’s long-adored indigenous
marijuana varieties.
“JMCC is fully committed to supporting the Jamaican medical cannabis industry every way we can and ensuring there are lasting benefits for the country and its people,” Diane Scott,
JMCC's Chief Executive Officer, told Forbes.
"As Jamaican medical cannabis grows in popularity, there is a real threat that the country’s unique strains will be lost or irrevocably contaminated by hybridization, and it was
important for us to be able to help to preserve what we believe are some of the best medical cannabis strains in the world.”
As the global cannabis industry continues to expand, cultivators across the world have been splicing seeds and crossing genetics at every turn in an effort to increase cannabinoid
levels, boost yield, mix terpenes, and more. And so for the same reason that most commercially sold pot is labeled by percentages of both sativa and indica, finding untouched strains
is becoming increasingly difficult.
To make sure that the island’s rich cannabis history is not genetically crossed into oblivion, JMCC will help NFDST researchers contact and convince local growers to donate seeds to
the project. Even with $2 million in funding from the Canadian benefactor, though, NFDST officials said that they would not be paying local cultivators for their seeds, but rather hope
that they will participate for the good of the country, and for the benefit of medical marijuana users across the world.
"We shall be using a nutraceutical affirmation of the claims for health benefits and we shall be archiving these claims for posterity, so that we can assure a hundred years from now
that Strain X shall be Strain X and not hybridized out or cross-fertilized in any way,” said Professor Errol Morrison, the Director General of the National Commission on Science and
Technology.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.