2 weeks ago, we showed you what Minister of Home Affairs and New Grow Industries Kareem Musa had to say about the Briceno Government's contemplation of exploring cannabis and industrial hemp as lucrative export industries.
Only days later, the National Evangelical Association of Belize was the first to rebuke Musa for even contemplating any further legalization of marijuana. But, he did mention that his ministry has retained a consultant by the name of Alex Lavin, the CEO of a company in Rhode Island in the US. Lavin specializes in industrial Marijuana cultivation and the products that can be used for both recreational and medicinal purposes.
And, he's also a strong advocate for marijuana and its full legalization in countries all around the world. This evening, he granted us an extended teleconference interview. He said that he is offering his expertise and knowledge to the Belize Government in the hopes that our country will approach this matter in the most responsible way possible.
Here's what he had to say on the potential for commercial success if Belize decides to pursue a marijuana industry:
Alex Lavin, Growth Industries or New England
"I got to tell you it was a breath of fresh air, because I had been going to Belize in previous and I did had conversations in trying to push the envelope in previous and Kareem Musa is a breath of fresh air, he has a great understanding of what was going on and taking example of hemp. Right now there is rapid amount of licenses that were issued out, none successfully has created any style of products that actually hit consumable standards and just dealing with him in particular the only thing that we want to kind of instill is industry standards. If Belize wants to see revenue come into the country so that you can see more things happen, more in education, more in healthcare and things of that nature, you are going to need to create a standard of product that can be exported in the future. Everywhere in the United Stated and everywhere across the world everywhere including EU - you have to be CGMP or what they call UMP which is called certify good manufacturing practices. Meaning that if the FDA or any testing body would come in there it's going to say the exact amount of THC that's on it, CDB content, does it have any pesticides on it, does it have any mold on it, because then if that's the case you can't even export it, you can't even consume it, Because the last thing that you want to do is get someone sick and then put a black mark on Belize like it is not doing its job to give proper products out to its citizens, so my main 2 cents on all of this has been the standards, the job creation and more importantly getting people from Belize all involve to be able to demonstrate that job growth. You are going to get the tourist market, the local population as well, but where Belize will see a light that it's never seen before and export will be in cannabis and will be in hemp style products, but it has to meet standards, because if it's not, guess what nothing will be able to get exported."
As viewers are aware, 10 grams of marijuana has been decriminalized for a number of years now. But, its sale and cultivation are still illegal, and if the cops catch you with more than 10 grams in your possession, you can still be criminally charged. So, we asked Lavin what advice he would give if - and that's a big IF - the Government of Belize proceeds to full legalization. Here's his answer:
Reporter
"Let's say for example the government says okay we will go full with this particular initiative. Where is the first place to start to make sure that we approach this marijuana industry issue with the right practices in mind?"
Alex Lavin, Growth Industries or New England
"First of all will give an ease to Belizeans who partake in it religiously or in their own recreational. You have to have a clear governing body that shows recreationally that it will allow up to an ounce of cannabis, because anything else that any individual has more than that and this is coming from a person I have no shame in saying I smoke everyday and there is no way that I can smoke an ounce every single day and it's not feasible. If you have more than that then you are intent to sell. So I think there should be a measure inside of it. I think there should also be a driving force for the tourism crowd. Remember people are coming to Belize to relax, so in my opinion I think the accessibility of being able to have an identification card that tourist pay a different fee then lets say Belizeans - Belizeans should not pay anything to buy Belizean products, but I feel that tourists that come there 100% should get a fee that gets associated with it and that's guaranteed a revenue that comes into the country by issuing this card. Let's just say you have a million tourists that come to Belize on a yearly basis and we do a card for the tourists that pays a $50 fee - that's 50 million dollars for Belize just on the card before they even buy a single product."
We have much more from that interview, including some of the strong arguments against the legalization of marijuana, which we'll share with you tomorrow.
