CLA Moves Into New Kingston Headquarters on Haining Road

The Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has begun operating from a new base at 7 Haining Road, Kingston. The move brings the agency’s work together under one roof in upgraded premises meant to lift how services are delivered, streamline day-to-day operations, and give staff and clients more room and comfort.

At a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday (July 15), State Minister for Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Delano Seiveright, said the new home shows Jamaica’s ongoing push toward “building a modern, transparent, credible and internationally respected medicinal cannabis industry”. He linked the shift to the CLA’s growing remit and its aim to offer regulation that is quicker to access, easier to navigate, and centred on the people who use its services.

The change arrives as the Authority faces calls to raise the standard of its service, lower hurdles for newcomers, and expand hands-on help for Jamaicans who want a place in the lawful trade. Mr. Seiveright recalled that when the Government set up the CLA, it chose a path of careful oversight on purpose. “We recognised the enormous medicinal, scientific and economic potential in the industry, while equally recognising our responsibility to protect public health, public safety and the integrity of the regulatory framework,” he said.

He pointed out that administrations elsewhere are still updating cannabis rules, with science, medicine, capital and public health increasingly shaping those choices. In the United States — the biggest lawful cannabis market worldwide — the sector is put at roughly US$32 billion a year, and moves toward federal rescheduling are speeding up. “So, while the process remains subject to legal and regulatory considerations, it signals that the global conversation continues to evolve towards medical research, responsible regulation and economic opportunity,” Mr. Seiveright said.

The same ceremony saw the CLA hand its 200th cannabis licence to Kush Palace in Montego Bay, St. James. The Authority was set up under the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act, 2015, and leads the build-out of Jamaica’s lawful medicinal cannabis sector.