President Of Guyana Wants To Boost Hemp Production

Guyana (official name the Co‑operative Republic of Guyana) is likely not the first place that you think of when you think of cannabis reform and the emerging cannabis industry.

However, the country is in the process of trying to reform its cannabis policies and launch a legal cannabis industry. If the President of Guayana has his way, farmers will be able to cultivate hemp sooner rather than later. Per Demerara Waves:

President Irfaan Ali on Sunday announced that he plans to meet with marijuana farmers to encourage them to get into the cultivation of high-value hemp.

“I intend to have a meeting very soon with all the marijuana growers in this country. I intend to have a meeting and to let them understand that there is a viable future in the hemp industry and bring them into that discussion and move away from the marijuana that has social consequences and come into mainstream economic activity that does not have that impact and has that returns,” he told a news conference.

The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) last  year seized 1,976,956 kilogrammes of marijuana and destroyed at least 10 acres of marijuana cultivations.

Cannabis reform has spread across both the Caribbean region as well as South America. Guyana is located in the northern part of South America, and while it is technically part of South America, the nation tends to trend alongside Caribbean nations when it comes to industry and politics.

It’s unfortunate that Guyana is not pursuing non-hemp cannabis legalization in addition to hemp legalization, however, even legalized hemp is better than Guyana’s current outright prohibition policies.

Guyana’s economy is ranked 148th globally (as measured by GDP) and its main industries are agriculture and mining.