Medicinal cannabis body to keep eye on effects of using the herb

The Medicinal Cannabis Authority will not only issue licenses and monitor the cultivation and processing of marijuana here, but they will also keep a close eye on the side effects of using the herb.

This was made clear by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Medicinal Cannabis Authority Jerrol Thompson when he spoke at a recent function at the Mental Health and Rehabilitation Centre at Glen.

Thompson said the Authority is regulating the medicinal cannabis industry by issuing licenses and one area that has to be monitored and looked at is whether there are side effects/ fallouts from the use of cannabis.

“We have been on radio and television and basically we want to continue a course of public education to make sure that persons definitely avoid and don’t take cocaine or severe addictive prescription medication like some of the opioids.

“And, as we create a cannabis industry, we are going to be monitoring that industry to make absolutely sure that how we are planning to do it is done properly,” said Thompson.

He said several issues must be considered when it comes to marijuana, among them the use of the drug by young people whose brains are still developing.

“They are at risk, if there is a family history of mental illness, of them developing some mental illness. We know this and there are some persons who will try to abuse the cannabis and we will be trying and working with the mental health hospital to ensure that this is minimized and that every single person that has any of these fallouts we will try to intervene,” Thompson said.

He noted that the Authority will try to use some of the revenue derived from the issuing of licenses to ensure that they have a solid and successful anti-drug campaign.

The CEO said the Authority is working with the Ministry of Health on mental health issues as this is one of its main priorities.