On December 11, 2018, the Parliament of the Southern Caribbean island country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) passed a bill to decriminalize cannabis for medicinal purposes and scientific research.
The nation is comprised of the main island of St. Vincent and a chain of smaller islands, all of which are the first members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States to decriminalize cannabis.
The country’s Minister for Agriculture, the Honorable Saboto Caesar says that the region is suited to producing the “highest-quality medicinal cannabis available on the global market.”
Florida-based Stem Holdings. Inc. announced last week that they had received a research license to grow and cultivate cannabis in SVG in coordination with the Bureau of Standards, and the Cannabis Research and Development Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry, and Labor.
“We believe SVG offers an extremely rich agricultural environment capable of producing and exporting some of the highest quality medicinal cannabis in the world,” says Stem Director of Business Development, Dr. Geoff Ostrove. “We are thrilled to be working alongside their local government and growers to deploy our company’s expertise in cannabis cultivation and extraction, along with the latest growing technology and genetic intellectual property.”
Under the license, Stem will construct a cannabis cultivation and research center where they will grow crops in a variety of environments including outdoor, indoor, and greenhouse to determine which method would be the most productive for the country.
The license permits Stem unlimited production of CBD, hemp, and cannabis, which will be processed, packaged and distributed under the company’s brands.
Stem plans to have their facility fully operational by early 2020.
