Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade Manoa Kamikamica has stressed that medicinal cannabis will only be for export purposes and will not be available for locals.
While responding to the question from Opposition MP Faiyaz Koya if the Medicinal Cannabis Bill legislation will only highlight that the product be exported only or will our products be available in our pharmacies, Kamikamica says in consultation with the Ministry of Health, the advice has been to just focus on export only.
He says the level of detail required to even consider importing medicinal cannabis into Fiji for use in the country at the moment is probably premature.
Kamikamica says they have taken the advice from the Ministry of Health, and right now, it's focused on export only.
He adds maybe at some point in the future, they can look at it.
Speaking on the outcomes of the consultations and feasibility study for the establishment of Fiji’s cannabis industry, the Deputy Prime Minister says the decision to develop or establish a medicinal cannabis industry in the country is driven by a desire to broaden our economy genuinely.
He says with the rapid growth of the medicinal cannabis industry globally, there is a view that Fiji has the potential or the ability to participate in this growing industry and create a very dynamic ecosystem that can support and create jobs in agriculture and manufacturing.
Kamikamica says 17 nationwide community consultations were conducted, and the Ministry registered about 500 participants in all, out of which 75 percent of participants supported the medicinal cannabis legalisation for medicinal purposes only.
He adds the majority of the participants were male farmers between the ages of 36 and 45 who voiced the importance of local participation.
