ELIEZER MOLINA

We had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Eliezer Molina in the cool air of a beautiful mountain where he has his coffee farm. Eliezer is known as a Puerto Rican political activist who focuses on issues of social justice and sustainable development.

Molina has presented himself as a defender of cannabis, recognizing the economic and health benefits for Puerto Rico if the plant is legalized.

Who is Eliezer Molina as a person and what experiences have shaped your political vision?

Eliezer Molina is the people. We are the ones who defend what you see here, the heart of our country. And when you defend the causes of your country, you are defending the causes of the people. I come from the countryside, from a humble neighborhood, raised with the old customs of our culture, and developing an awareness of that culture makes one tend to defend what one loves. Because one develops a sense of belonging. When you are little and you manage to grow up in an environment where you have the privilege, as I did, of grabbing a mango from the tree wherever you went and tearing off the peel with your mouth to eat it, that is who we are.

I want my children to have the same experiences we did: going to a river, catching shrimp to make rice or asopao. And I don't blame those born in the city, but personally, I want my children to have those experiences.

That experience of harvesting the coffee, roasting it, filtering it, adding the brown sugar cube—those are experiences we don't have today. Here, you can grow almost anything, even cannabis. The reality is that Puerto Rico has a unique combination in the world: we have 11 of the 12 arable soil types, and we have an ideal climate that allows almost anything to grow. In other words, Puerto Rico is adaptable to any agricultural product.

What led you to become involved in cannabis advocacy and what is your personal relationship with this issue?

Well, look, I think it's a generational field. I think our generation started to experience this transformation, and that's why there's now a more or less legal market. Like everything, this began underground, and over time, when you look at the numbers and the current climate, you find yourself with an industry capable of becoming a mega-industry. If you start from the perspective of production economics, you know you have a factor where, in a niche market with an incredible product shortage and high purchasing power, you can supply it. And when you look at it in those terms, you realize there's a market; it goes beyond health, etc.

From a market perspective, you might say, "If this is going to move in that direction, why aren't we there?" Why? Because we've been conditioned to a consumer economy. And we're also going to wait for them to import cannabis because we haven't had the courage to develop farms and give people free rein to do it. But no, we wait for some millionaire to come along and find a corrupt politician who will impose regulations and licenses, making the processes more expensive so we can't do it ourselves.

And you think, wow, it's good that at least they're talking about it and paving the way. But the reality is that nothing has been opened up; what they're doing is facilitating access for the same food industry distributors, those who control the country. When the truth is, everyone here can grow it and start making money. So I think it's time to talk about opening up the market.

What we need to do here is identify those countries that lack the capacity to produce goods and export them. This will allow foreign investment to enter the market and add value, just as the large corporations that control other industries, like coffee, already do.

What was your first experience with cannabis? I can't tell you that one (laughs), but I can tell you about my situation, which is public knowledge. I was kicked out of the race when they said I hadn't submitted my doping tests. The same tests I didn't have to submit, since the regulations in this country required us to go to a specific lab to get tested.

What did happen was that I had sent my medical cannabis license to be renewed since it was about to expire, and this usually takes about 10 days, in my experience. But the days went by and it didn't arrive. I contacted my doctor, and he told me he didn't know what was going on because all the approved licenses had arrived, including mine, but they hadn't processed it. What was happening? Well, it turns out that the person in charge is the daughter of a corrupt mayor. It was obvious what was happening. That's why I'm telling you, you CANNOT allow the cannabis industry to fall into the hands of corrupt people. Because then what you see are millionaire Americans coming here wanting us to take care of them and develop their products at their whim.

In your opinion, how can the legalization of cannabis benefit patients who depend on it for their health?

Look, I'm not a doctor and I'm far from having any health-related training, but in my experience, you can see how there are different types of conditions that can be addressed with cannabis (ailments, stress, appetite, etc.), and it's accessible. The reality is that here, to get a drug, you have to wait for it to be imported. So, if you have the ability to develop it here... go for it. It all comes down to the same thing: it doesn't have to be cannabis; it can be anything or any product. Develop it and unleash its potential.

I believe that cannabis is too big and strong an industry to ignore.

Besides the medical benefits, what impact do you think the legalization of cannabis would have on the Puerto Rican economy?

The economic impact is enormous, but it depends on where that economic impact is directed. That's why I think we need to open up the market so that the economic flow is distributed among all those sectors, because if we reduce it to 4 or 5 producers and they control the market... just imagine. And if you look closely, it's not free trade because you're tied to paying a series of licenses and complying with regulations that not everyone can afford. So it's not free trade.

In an interview, he was asked how he viewed the results of the past elections, to which he expressed great optimism for change. At the time of this writing, Eliezer Molina was in the vote counting process, with the number of votes in his favor indicating he would enter the Puerto Rico Senate as an elected legislator at-large.