Medicinal cannabis should be planted in an enclosed space to reduce the chances of theft - Dr Raj

There should be an enclosed space for the planting of medicinal cannabis rather than having it in an open space which will reduce the chances of theft and the operation can be monitored.

While speaking in support of establishing a medicinal cannabis industry in Fiji during a public consultation at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Training Centre in Valelevu, general practitioner, Doctor Amitesh Raj says if the license is given to a particular individual or company, it needs to be an organised or zoned area which could be a tax-free zone, for instance, Kalabu and hopefully tax is not implemented in those areas so that the economy benefits.

While responding to the suggestion, the Director and Registrar of Cooperatives, Faizal Khan says the tax-free zone decision will be made after discussions with investors.

Khan emphasised that overseas investors have currently submitted their expression of interest and have not been given the approval for operating in Fiji.

He says in terms of tax benefit, the working group will be exploring and they will also learn how the other countries have done this, how successful it was and whether they have charged tax on export or if the focus is on profitable tax.

Public consultations ends next Thursday.