Jamaica Launches First Medical Ganja Firm

Island eyes role as hub for medical pot tourism
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 6, 2013 1:52 AM CST
Jamaica Launches First Medical Ganja Firm
A farmer shows off a marijuana plant during a tour of his plantation in Jamaica's central mountain town of Nine Mile.    (AP Photo/David McFadden)

A Jamaican scientist hopes the birthplace of Bob Marley can also spawn a thriving medical marijuana industry. Medicinal chemistry expert Henry Lowe has launched a venture called MediCanja, which aims to create and export health products derived from Jamaica's famous marijuana, which is illegal but widely consumed on the island, Reuters reports. Lowe, who plans to focus on isolating medicinal compounds in the plant, believes finding a legal use for the crop known locally as ganja could transform Jamaica's struggling economy. "Given Jamaica's history with ganja, we could be the hub for medical ganja in Latin America and the Caribbean," he says. (More Jamaica stories.)

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