Although the foundations for the development of the medical marijuana business have not yet been clearly presented, the Rosselló administration uses its cannons to promote the hemp industry, a cannabis family plant that is used for the manufacture of fabrics, plastics and building materials, among others.
The secretary of the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC), Manuel Laboy, told sources that this is one of the new government commitments to lift the island’s manufacturing contained in the Plan for Puerto Rico.
To that end, he acknowledged that, although the island lacks a regulatory framework that allows the sowing and processing of hemp, also known as hemp , the efforts to start up the aforementioned industry are well advanced.
In fact, the Department of Agriculture recently signed an administrative order to ensure, through the creation of an agricultural task force, the development of experimental hemp projects that give way to identifying farms and farmers interested in being part of this type of company.
Laboy also pointed out that there are already companies and individuals interested in being part of the business.
“We are receiving different phone calls and communications from potential investors that would be interested in entering this and have told us that they are interested in using buildings of Industrial Development to for hemp and to make the fabrications that they would be interested in selling,” said Laboy, at the same time who recognized that many of the interested parties are part of the business of medical marijuana.
“The profiles vary a lot. There are manufacturing companies in Puerto Rico that could be manufacturing furniture or they can be in the plastics and textiles business who are interested in using hemp as a raw material. Once this happens, they can enter into negotiations with a company that makes the planting for them, to have that raw material available and to be able to diversify its products based on hemp. Other interested companies are those that have dabbled in medicinal cannabis that also see in hemp an opportunity to diversify their business, “said the secretary of the DDEC.
He acknowledged that although hemp is a plant quite similar to marijuana, he said that, in terms of development, one topic can not be mixed with another because “medicinal cannabis has its own law and its own purposes.”
In most states of the United States, both hemp and marijuana are classified as class I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act.
However, scientific studies outline differences between both plants. One of them is that hemp contains very low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive chemical that generates a direct effect on the central nervous system of those who use it orally, nasally, intravenously or intramuscularly.
“The idea is that, just as we can plant cannabis for medicinal purposes, we can do it with hemp, as Colorado does, where sowing is local for raw material purposes,” he said.
According to House Bill 1071 (Industrial Cannabis Project for Puerto Rico), which had its first public hearing on June 2nd in the House Economic Development Commission, the United States annually imports over $500 million in products related to hemp.
Based on these figures and others that accumulate countries that grow the plant, such as Spain and Canada, the representative Víctor Parés Otero, president of the commission, understands that Puerto Rico has the necessary characteristics to also break out economically in the aforementioned industry.
“Thousands of jobs would be created,” Parés Otero told sources, and immediately stated that the specific figures for investment and profit would be known during the public hearings that will be held by representatives of the departments of Justice, Agriculture, Economic Development, entrepreneurs and staff of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus.
COMMENTS