By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

THOUGH the 2025/2026 Draft Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure contain no explicit reference to cannabis or the Cannabis Authority, senior officials maintain that funding for the body and its regulatory rollout has been secured for the upcoming fiscal year.

Dr Lynwood Brown, chairman of the Cannabis Authority, said he received direct assurance from the Minister of Health that the necessary financial support is in place, even if not explicitly listed in the published estimates.

“He has assured me that there is in this coming fiscal year budget for the authority to function,” Dr Brown said. “He has gotten my input as chairman as what our budgetary needs are. He has confirmed with me from last week that indeed get what we want.”

A review of the 2025/2026 draft budget by The Tribune did not reveal any line items explicitly referencing cannabis, the Cannabis Authority, or regulatory expenditures related to the cannabis industry.

Still, Dr Brown said preparations are progressing with the goal of issuing the authority’s first licences by July 1, a timeline previously outlined by Attorney General Ryan Pinder.

“We are still working with that timeline,” Dr Brown said. “One of the limiting steps was to get that platform, which we have secured already, and now the other items that we have to do are minuscule compared to that particular line item.”

Minister of Economic Affairs Michael Halkitis said the authority’s funding is likely modest, noting the government is still in the early stages of implementation.

“We’re still putting in infrastructure, still rolling out the whole foundation,” Mr Halkitis said, suggesting that the budget allocation likely corresponds with initial licensing efforts.

Despite official assurances, concerns persist among advocates who have questioned both the transparency and priorities of the rollout. Renaldo Cartwright, founder of Marijuana Bahamas, previously criticised the lack of a clear funding line, warning that the current approach risks marginalising small-scale users and the grassroots reform movement.

The Cannabis Bill, passed in 2024, legalised the medical and religious use of cannabis and established a framework for seven types of licences. Dr Brown confirmed that five of those categories are exclusively reserved for Bahamian entities.

“We are all about encouraging Bahamian entrepreneurs of various bank account sizes to participate in the industry from the smallest man to the most corporate person,” he said. “As long as they can get past the licensing and the vetting process which the legislation speaks to, we will be happy to license them.”

Members of the Rastafarian community, who have long campaigned for cannabis reform, have responded to the government’s efforts with a mixture of cautious optimism and frustration. Priest Richmond McKinney, who sits on the Cannabis Authority, has previously pointed to continued arrests for small quantities of cannabis and criticised the persistent legal classification of cannabis as a “dangerous drug.”

He and others have called for better alignment between law enforcement practices and the intentions of the new legislation.

Dr Brown emphasised that the authority’s mandate is strictly regulatory and does not include enforcement or prosecutorial responsibilities.

“That is out of our control,” he said. “That rests in the hands of Attorney General’s Office.”