Amalgamated gets Barbados medicinal cannabis licence - Trinidad Guardian

Amalgamated Security Services (Barbados) Ltd is one of two companies that has been granted approval to operate in the medicinal cannabis industry by the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA).

The BMCLA announced on Tuesday said that Amalgamated Barbados was granted a licence for transport while Island Therapeutics was granted a total of six licences —cultivator-tier 1, processor-tier 1, retail distributor, transport, import, and export.

Macoya-headquartered Amalgamated Security Services Ltd did not immediately respond to a question yesterday requesting it to confirm that Amalgamated Barbados is a wholly owned subsidiary of the T&T company. But Amalgamated Barbados is listed on the Amalgamated Security Services Ltd website as being a wholly owned subsidiary of the T&T company.

The licences brings to nine the number of Barbados businesses approved to date to participate in the island’s medicinal cannabis industry, with a combined total of 25 licences. The first set of businesses and licenses approved by the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Board (BMCLB) in July 2022.

“The BMCLB approvals bring us one step closer to expanding Barbados’ legal medicinal cannabis marketplace,” said acting CEO Shanika Roberts-Odle in a statement on Tuesday.

“We are now able to create an important medicinal cannabis supply chain – from the creators in cultivators who grow the plant and the processors, who take that raw material and transform it into tested, consistent, high-quality products that patients can trust.

“We also now have businesses approved to build a system that can import planting materials for cultivators to grow legally, and businesses that soon can transport that plant or the final product from point A to point B.

“We have businesses that will soon be able to buy the local medicinal cannabis plant or locally produced final product to export it outside these shores legally or sell to businesses here that can buy that final product for their therapeutic facilities where patients can go, purchase from the pharmacy in the therapeutic facility and consume it there while enjoying a health and wellness spa-type environment,” she added.

Roberts-Odle said that, holistically, Barbados’ entire medicinal cannabis ecosystem can now move towards creating a market, job opportunities, and entrepreneurship.