Tag: Guernsey

Guernsey is the second-largest island located in the English Channel, and a self-governing British Crown dependency. Guernsey, which is located near the French coast, has experienced increasing momentum for cannabis policy modernization in recent years.

A survey of policymakers in Guernsey was conducted back in 2022, asking if they supported cannabis reform, and more than half expressed support for at least taking a look at how cannabis is governed. A more recent survey has found that half of Guernsey’s deputies currently support reform.

“Half of Guernsey’s deputies support decriminalising cannabis, according to research by the BBC.” reported BBC in its local coverage. “Eleven of the island’s 38 politicians have said they are either undecided on the issue, or will wait to see any proposals before making a decision.”

“While four have expressed their opposition, while (sic) 19 supported plans to decriminalise the Class B drug locally.” the outlet also reported.

Even if the current push to update Guernsey’s cannabis laws proves to be successful at a local level, there is no guarantee that the modernized policy approach will be enacted. This is due to the concept of ‘royal assent.’ A somewhat recent example of the royal assent concept blocking cannabis policy reform can be found in the unfortunate case of Bermuda.

A historic cannabis reform measure was passed by lawmakers in Bermuda in 2022. However, because Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory, all new laws have to receive royal assent, signifying the monarchy’s approval of the locally approved law.

The Governor of Bermuda at the time, who was appointed by the United Kingdom, did not provide royal assent to Bermuda’s measure, effectively vetoing the approved measure. In 2023, the denial of royal assent was hinted at in Guernsey, and there is currently no evidence that the monarchy’s opinions have changed on the matter.

Guernsey, a self-governing British Crown dependency island in the English Channel near the French coast, only has a population of roughly 65,000 people. Yet, three private clinics on the island have reportedly issued over 13,000 medical cannabis prescriptions over the course of the last year.

Medical cannabis reform was first implemented in Guernsey in 2019, with the British Crown dependency issuing its first medical cannabis cultivation license in November 2021. Momentum for adult-use reform picked up in recent years, however, actual passage and implementation of an adult-use cannabis measure seems unlikely for the foreseeable future.

Lawmakers in Guernsey agreed in 2022 to explore the idea of adult-use cannabis reform. Unfortunately, all laws passed by Guernsey’s government must also be approved by the United Kingdom’s Privy Council – a concept known as ‘royal assent.’

“One of the hurdles we’ve encountered as we have looked more deeply in cannabis legalisation is getting royal assent in the UK [passed by the King’s Privy Council, which, at the moment, appears very unlikely.” stated Policy & Resources Committee member Deputy Bob Murray earlier this year.

A survey of domestic lawmakers in Guernsey back in the summer of 2022 found that over half of them supported reviewing the nation’s cannabis policies, with 40% of survey respondents indicating that they supported rescheduling cannabis.

For now, Guernsey’s emerging medical cannabis industry will continue to serve patients via the prescription process. If local lawmakers and industry members have their way, Guernsey’s industry will increase in size and scope in the coming years, and serve patients in other jurisdictions.

The stated goal coming out of Guernsey is for companies to be able to import raw cannabis from other jurisdictions, make them into various products, and then export those finished products to large European markets such as Germany.

However, for that to happen a “massive investment” needs to be made into the industry according to Deputy Marc Leadbeater, and investors seem hesitant.

“The problem is a lot of the previous investors in medicinal cannabis are wary about investing in that area at the moment due to developments with cannabis legislation across the globe.” Deputy Leadbeater stated according to reporting by the BBC.

Guernsey may not be the first place that comes to mind when someone thinks about cannabis policy, however, the self-governing British Crown dependency is home to some ardent cannabis supporters. Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel near the French Coast.

Lawmakers in Guernsey agreed in 2022 to explore the idea of adult-use cannabis reform. Unfortunately, all laws passed by Guernsey’s government must also be approved by the United Kingdom’s Privy Council – a concept known as ‘royal assent.’ It appears that such approval is unlikely, at least at this time. Per excerpts from BBC:

Policy & Resources Committee member Deputy Bob Murray said several departments were examining the issue.

But he added any law was not likely to get UK royal assent “at the moment”.

He said: “One of the hurdles we’ve encountered as we have looked more deeply in cannabis legalisation is getting royal assent in the UK [passed by the King’s Privy Council, which, at the moment, appears very unlikely.”

There is recent precedent regarding cannabis policy, royal assent, and its use to prevent adult-use cannabis legalization pursuits. Bermuda, which is also a British Crown dependency and subject to the royal assent provision, was on a path to making significant cannabis policy reforms last year.

However, all of the progress hit a dead end when the Governor of Bermuda, who is appointed by the United Kingdom, effectively vetoed a cannabis reform measure previously passed by Bermuda lawmakers by refraining from granting royal assent. As with Bermuda, Guernsey should be able to set its own cannabis policies.

Guernsey is an island located within the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. It’s part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It’s likely not the first place that comes to mind when thinking about cannabis reform.

However, there is growing support for cannabis reform in Guernsey, including within lawmaker circles. The Guernsey Press recently analyzed survey answers involving lawmakers and their views about cannabis policy. Per the Guernsey Press:

Although some answers were nuanced or not particularly clear, we can work out that more than half of Guernsey deputies – Alderney representatives in the States were not involved – were supportive of the medicinal use of cannabis.

More than half were again supportive towards looking again at the way cannabis is regulated.

And about 40% were open to some form of legalisation of the Class B drug for personal use.

It’s always a nuanced thing when lawmakers express general support for cannabis reform, in that their support is just that – general. It doesn’t provide insight into what specific provisions they may support.

Do they support home cultivation? Do they support a regulated industry? There are a number of policy components that go into cannabis policy reform, and any number of them could result in a lawmaker switching from ‘supportive’ to ‘opposed.’

Still, the survey results from Guernsey are encouraging. It could definitely be worse, with the numbers flip-flopped. Thankfully, that is not the case.