In eliminating the social consequences associated with marijuana, President Irfaan Ali will soon engage ‘marijuana planters’ to educate them on the potential which exists if they were to undertake hemp instead.
At a press conference on Sunday, the Head of State asserted that hemp production has a massive turnover rate and these efforts are to move away from the prevalence of illegal marijuana cultivation.
“I intend to have a meeting soon with all the marijuana growers in this country. I intend to have a meeting and let them understand that there’s a viable future in the hemp industry and bring them into that discussion and move away from the marijuana that has social consequences… It’s only if you deal with reality, you can run a country. They come with the technical skills, frankly speaking,” he underlined.
Ali pointed out that the government has a duty to analyse potential markets for the country, and hemp can open the doors for many other industries.
“This is how you avoid the Dutch Disease. You have to use the resources to create economic opportunities and integrate the people into those opportunities…We are cognizant of the future and there is a great opportunity that lies ahead in terms of the hemp industry and what it can do in terms of the technological push; construction material, pharmaceuticals. I have looked at some numbers. Unbelievable numbers on the return per acre. The government has a duty to analyze all of this,” the President related.
