Over-regulation of Jamaica’s cannabis industry is deterring farmers from entering the legal market, and impeding development - indicating why drug policies must be tailored to a country’s socioeconomic needs. The vast rules and pricy prerequisites for entering Jamaica’s legal cannabis market are deterring farmers from seeking cultivation licenses. In addition to these regulations, “there is little knowledge, understanding or engagement with the new scheme by farmers”, according to author Simon Jones, who has published two pieces on the Jamaican cannabis industry for the International Journal of Drug Policy.