Creating Standards

High standards mean a world-class product. The specialised standards regulate the agricultural, manufacturing and active pharmaceutical ingredients.

General standards for the Medicinal Cannabis Industry. (Sourced from Herbal Cannabis for Medical Use: A Spectrum of Regulatory Approaches – World Drug Report 2023)

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released its updated recommendations based on a “multi-year review process conducted by the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD).

A sub-report was also created by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) World Drug Report 2023 under the subheading “Contemporary issues on drugs” sub-report 3, “Herbal Cannabis for Medical Use: A Spectrum of Regulatory Approaches”.

To set a standard, a level is set to constitute what is considered medicinal. This is based on a scale. (Sourced from Herbal Cannabis for Medical Use: A Spectrum of Regulatory Approaches – World Drug Report 2023)

Countries entering the industry incorporate these studies and recommendations to ensure their products meet international standards. This process takes both time and money.

The BMCLA also embarked on this journey, teaming up with the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council to create medicinal cannabis standards, curriculum and qualifications for would-be medicinal cannabis cultivators. The National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Cannabis Cultivation (Medicinal) Level 2 and Level 3 are a set of competencies a candidate must achieve for qualification in their chosen level.

Technical Officer Communications, TVETC Barbados, Samantha Jones explains the goal of vocational training. (ZOOM interview)

“The World Health Organization has good agricultural collection practices for any medicinal herbs or plants, so we needed to adhere to those requirements,” mentioned TVET Technical Officer Akil Thompson, the officer in charge of the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) on medicinal cannabis cultivation.

TVET Technical Officer Akil Thompson relates the steps taken after the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA) contracted the TVET Council to design an NVQ for Medicinal Cannabis cultivation. (Filmed by Esther Jones)

“We did a consultation of technical experts in the field. And they would have helped us narrow down what would have been needed here in Barbados because our industry will still be slightly different from what’s going on in Canada or Israel,” Thompson said.

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