A patient may designate a person as a caregiver and that person has the responsibility for the immediate care and safety of the patient; to assist the patient with obtaining or using medicinal cannabis or to act in the best interest of the patient. A receiver appointed for a person by the Court, under the Mental Health Act Cap. 45, or where relevant a guardian in accordance with the provisions of the Mental Health Act, shall be deemed to be the caregiver of a person to who the Act applies.

A parent or legal guardian of a patient who is a minor shall be deemed to be the caregiver for that minor, unless that parent or legal guardian designates another person, or a person is designated by an order of the Court.

The Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA) is the sole regulator, that is mandated to create and position the local medicinal cannabis industry as a global centre of excellence in training, certification, research and development and to provide a high quality, accessible and advanced patient-centric environment to qualifying individuals.

The BMCLA also ensures that the safety of the public and consumers of medicinal cannabis and its by-products are adequately protected, by appropriately regulating the importation, sale, distribution, possession, purchase, manufacture, cultivation, transportation and exportation of medicinal cannabis.

Medicinal Cannabis is cannabis that is grown and sold pursuant to the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Act, 2019 that includes the seeds, immature plants as well as all parts of the plant, along with resin extracted from any part of the plant, every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation from cannabis; or cannabis concentrate; that is cultivated, processed, manufactured, distributed or sold under a licence from the BMCLA. As a medicine, it is prescribed and recommended by physicians to provide a therapeutic effect.

A person designated as a caregiver under this Act shall obtain from a medical practitioner a certificate that states that the caregiver is not dependent on a controlled drug.

A patient who needs to change his or her caregiver should notify his or her medical practitioner of the change, and give that medical practitioner such information as the medical practitioner may require in respect of the new caregiver.