Ian Hayles urges CLA to expand licences and shield Westmoreland ganja farmers

People's National Party MP Ian Hayles used his contribution in the House of Representatives to press for a fairer approach to cannabis cultivation in his Westmoreland Western constituency, while briefly arguing that the National Water Commission must improve customer service, tackle non-revenue water losses, and shed politicised policies if it is to become viable.

Hayles said the hardships facing his constituents have weighed heavily on him. He told the chamber that residents regularly contact him to report police burning ganja fields and to say that farmers are being arrested and charged. He drew a sharp contrast with other crops, noting that in his lifetime he has never seen police destroy cane fields or arrest cane farmers, even though rum derived from cane can cause harm.

He also pointed to bauxite mining, which he said has damaged communities in Clarendon, Manchester and St. Ann, yet continues to receive encouragement and support, while ganja growers remain largely unsupported. Tobacco, he added, is grown locally or imported with health warnings attached, yet tobacco fields are not destroyed in the way cannabis plots are.

Hayles warned that before the current United States president leaves office, cannabis could be legalised at the federal level across that country. He appealed to the Cannabis Licensing Authority to open up the industry, release more licences, and work closely with local farmers. He thanked Mark Golden for what he described as vision and foresight in advancing full legalisation, and praised the CLA board and relevant ministers of state for recent efforts to help small community farmers in Westmoreland cultivate legally without fear of jail, fines, convictions, or seeing their crops burned.

He argued that as bauxite declines and sugar struggles, Parliament should grow and protect a legal ganja sector that lets farmers reap their harvest and return home to their families. Hayles pledged support for government efforts to build a regulated industry benefiting all Jamaicans, and noted that more than 425 hectares of largely idle government land in Westmoreland could be put to work for licensed cultivators. He closed by saying Jamaica markets sun, sea, reggae and cannabis to the world, and that all four deserve protection.