‘Legalising cannabis not the economic boost some claim’
LEGALISING cannabis will not be a ‘silver bullet’ for the island’s economy that some of its proponents claim it to be, the Home Affairs Committee president has argued.
Rob Prow was responding to an open letter sent to all deputies by Paul Smith, chairman of the Channel Islands Cannabis Industry Association, who claimed that legalising the Class B drug would lead to a number of benefits, including a reduction in drug harm and an increase in tax revenues.
Deputy Prow said that little regard was being paid to the NHS-documented health risks associated with cannabis, and insisted that Home Affairs would not rush into any legislative changes due to the ‘huge’ impact legalisation would have on the community.
He denied that the committee had been ‘prevaricating’ on its approach to cannabis. Work had been done on a cross-committee group looking at non-punitive approaches to cannabis enforcement, he said. Such approaches were already being used, and it was admitted that these pathways could be more robust and better communicated.
Mr Smith criticised the States for ‘consistently kicking into the long grass’ an industry which he believes could deliver on reducing costs and increasing tax revenues.
He accused Deputy Prow of not fully understanding the implications of Home Affairs’ own policies.
‘There is obviously no clear policy from Home Affairs on this subject apart from their determination to halt cannabis reform at any cost, while hiding behind a smokescreen of misinformation and confusion.’
Mr Smith said that the latest Bailiwick Law Enforcement annual report indicated that seizures of synthetic cannabinoid liquids and powders had fallen since the introduction of prescribed medicinal cannabis into the island in 2018.
‘This, in their own words, would appear to make a solid case for legalisation – if cannabis is made available legally, then the illegal market falls away,’ he said.
Such a move would eradicate law enforcement costs and raise tax revenues of some £4m. a year.
He has offered to meet any States member to discuss.
Policy & Resources has proposed to de-prioritise early work to examine changing the legal status of cannabis within its Government Work Plan.
