After serving the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) for over five years, have Hyacinth ‘Cindy’ Lightbourne demitted office this week.
Lightbourne, a noted attorney-at-law, is credited with having led the Authority since being appointed chairman in 2016 to its full operationalisation in the 2020-2021 financial year.
She was instrumental in leading the strategic direction of the organisation which has been encapsulated in a four-year strategic business plan for the period 2020-21 to 2023-24. This includes overview of the establishment of policies and procedures to facilitate the issuance of licences, the issuance of the first licence to handle ganja, the issuance of the first export authorisation to export legally grown Jamaican ganja and initiation of a craft hemp industry for the production of cannabidiol (CDB) for medicinal purposes.
LIGHTBOURNE OVERSAW INDUSTRY GROWTH
To date, she has overseen the growth of industry evidenced by the issuance of 74 licences to cultivate, process, transport, retail and conduct research and development activities, which has resulted in the creation of hundreds jobs for Jamaicans. She has also facilitated the issuance of 20 export authorisations to export Jamaican ganja to countries across the world for medical, therapeutic and scientific purposes.
The CLA. in a statement, thanked Lightbourne for her dedicated service to the Authority and by extension the medical cannabis industry over her approximately five years of service.
Lightbourne is succeeded by LeVaughn Flynn.
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