Copyright thenassauguardian
A company has been contracted to develop a cannabis licensing platform, and the issuing of cannabis licenses is set to begin before the end of the year, according to Dr. Lynwood Brown, chairman of the Cannabis Authority. Brown told Guardian Business on Friday last week that the development of the licensing platform was the only thing holding the authority back from administering cannabis licenses. “We were looking to get started with online registration, and it is in mind to launch before the end of the year, barring no other pressing matters. “The government is looking for an end-of-year startup... we will have persons who have already been in the portal for the application processes, and the board will be reviewing their application to see if they meet the minimum criteria,” he said. Dr. Brown did not reveal the name of the firm contracted to develop the licensing platform, or how much it is being paid for its services. “The platform needed to be established prior to the launch, because everything is electronic applications, and the platform is used to help the government with monitoring,” he said. He continued: “We didn’t have a partner with that established. Now that we have gotten past that particular hurdle, we are moving towards them developing a platform that’s unique to The Bahamas. It’s not going to be a store-bought platform, it’s going to be unique for The Bahamas, considering it is an archipelagic nation, as well as we have to implant most doctors’ offices in it, because it’s also going to house prescriptions for other medications. So, this is why we are taking so long, and we’re trying to get it done properly.” Brown continued: “We haven’t received any applications, and we cannot receive applications without the platform. The applications will all be routed through the platform. The provider is large in the cannabis space. I will allow the Ministry of Finance to make that announcement, because it’s a financial consideration, and that falls under the remit of the Ministry of Finance. But the persons who are doing the platform, they aren’t novices in the space, and they operate in multiple jurisdictions, inclusive of the United States and other countries in the Caribbean. So, they understand the nuances of America, as well as the intricacies of small island nations like ourselves.”
