Cannabis Firm Based In The U.S. and Canada Inks Deal With Caribbean Island Nation

The medical cannabis industry has been booming in St. Vincent and the Grenadines since the island nation’s government decriminalized the plant at the end of 2018. Now, federal officials in the republic of about 112,000 people are taking the next step to legitimize it.

The country’s Medicinal Cannabis Authority along with corporate heads from Denver-based Akerna announced over the weekend what’s believed to be the world’s first official business partnership between a federal government and a cannabis company in the private sector.

The Nasdaq-listed tech firm said it will provide its widely adopted seed-to-sale software program to help the state-run cannabis program standardize and simplify its operations. Separate software from Akerna-owned and Toronto-based Ample Organics will also help officials from St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ cut down on bureaucracy.

“The Medicinal Cannabis Authority was interested in partnering to create software for their specific regulatory and compliance needs,” explained Akerna CEO Jessica Billingsley. “We hope this partnership is just the beginning and will be a model for other countries and regions looking to implement a nationally standardized cannabis program.”

The agreement comes as the island nation searches for new revenue streams. Its lifeblood tourism industry has been stymied by the pandemic and a massive series of recent eruptions by La Soufrière volcano in St. Vincent. Cannabis is the nation’s most valuable agricultural product and St. Vincent is the Caribbean’s second-most prolific producer of the plant after Jamaica. Financial terms of the Akerna deal were not immediately made available.

Commercial cultivation became popular as far back as the 1970s, as the country’s hilly volcanic landscape, rich soil, and swath of usually empty islands made it a popular place to grow and traffic the plant. People on the island can now legally possess up to two ounces of cannabis.

Dr. Jerrol Thompson, head of Medicinal Cannabis Authority cited efficiency when talking about the future of the medical program.

“The software will reduce time, paper, and human resource requirements, allowing us to maximize our productivity,” he said. “Ample Organics and the rest of the Akerna family has guided St. Vincent and the Grenadines through the various challenges of starting a cannabis market, opening the door for us to arrive at this unique partnership today.”