Vanuatu Becomes The First Country In The Pacific To Legally Cultivate Cannabis

Vanuatu's newly passed Cultivation Export Act allows medicinal cannabis to enter the global market, with the intention that this "people-sustaining product" will bring wealth to Vanuatu.

Vanuatu has become one of the first Pacific countries to allow businesses to cultivate medical and industrial cannabis after signing a legal policy regulating the export, cultivation and development of the plant.
This will pave the way for the country to enter the global cannabis market, with some hoping the plant will become a major cash crop for local communities.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Vanuatu government has offered medical cannabis cultivation businesses at least five 10-year licences - two for growing medicinal cannabis and three for industrial hemp production development - at a price of VT10 million (about R600,000) each.
Businesses are also required to pay an additional VT 10 million per year as a licence renewal fee.
Medicinal cannabis is most commonly used to relieve chronic pain, but also to treat anxiety, cancer-related symptoms, epilepsy, insomnia and multiple sclerosis. Industrial hemp, which typically contains less of the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol, is used in products such as rope, textiles, clothing, shoes, food, paper, bioplastics, insulation and biofuels.
Vanuatu's Minister of Agriculture, Moses Amos, said the policies were implemented to encourage foreign investment in Vanuatu. "The government is paying particular attention to alternative resources that we can utilise, one of which is industrial hemp and medicinal cannabis. This is a potential resource that we can utilise and develop as a potential export commodity for us while bringing in some foreign exchange for the country." He said.

High-risk industry

To mitigate the "high risk" associated with the cannabis industry, the Vanuatu government says it will only issue licences to companies with at least 10 years' experience in the sector.
This means that only foreign companies from countries with long-standing cannabis industries, such as those from the United States, will be eligible to do so.

But the move remains controversial in Vanuatu, where recreational use of the drug is a huge social stigma and cannabis remains illegal.
Former police officer Iso Kapum says he used to "hunt down" criminals who smoked or sold cannabis illegally. But today he wants a licence to grow cannabis on his southern island of Tana, believing it will bring development and wealth to the people of Vanuatu and improve the welfare of the people there.
"I do find it very, very valuable for the southern hemisphere islands. On the island, we really had to identify a product that was in demand, a product that was valuable, a product that would sustain people's livelihoods." He said.

'Exciting' time for business

Mr Kapham said a chance meeting with Australian resort owner Andrew Smith first sparked his interest in cannabis cultivation.
Together they created Tafia, a cannabis product development company that plans to open the first commercial cannabis plantation on Tanna Island if it receives government approval.
Mr Smith said when they first came up with the business idea, the two of them were almost chased out of the village.
"The reaction from some people was quite violent." He said.

"But it was just a case of opening up minds and showing the opportunity. Once we started explaining it slowly one by one, they started to see the opportunity in agriculture, the opportunity in aftermarket products."
Tafia now has the support of the island's tribal chiefs, who have also become shareholders in the cannabis company, he said, adding that he believes the issuance of cannabis licences marks an "exciting" time for Vanuatu.