About 200 people attended, including numerous visiting speakers, whose talks preceded a political debate featuring several States members.
The date of 20 April has become an unofficial celebration day for cannabis users.
Organiser Bruce Caruso, who sells cannabis-based products at Green Retreat in Town, said one purpose of the event was to argue for full legalisation of the drug locally.
‘It’s time to educate the public about the medicinal properties of cannabis, its potential economic benefits, and the need for sensible regulation,’ said Mr Caruso.
He predicted that legalisation would generate enough tax revenue to avoid a goods and services tax.
‘In places which have mature cannabis legislation, it is estimated that about 10-15% of the population uses cannabis.
‘Translate that to Guernsey, that’s at least 6,500 people spending potentially £200 or £300 a month on cannabis, if it were to be legalised.’
He believed that de-criminalisation would be an ‘unnecessary’ step on the road to full legalisation.
‘You’d have a situation where you’d be able to have cannabis in your possession without being in trouble, but you’d still have to rely on the black market to get it.
‘It would still cause issues for those people supplying the drug in terms of there being no regulation.’
Among those speaking at the event was Charlotte Caldwell, whose son Billy, now 19, was the first person in the UK to receive an NHS-funded prescription for an unlicensed cannabis-based medicine which he needed.
He suffered severe epilepsy with up to 600 seizures a day before receiving cannabis-based treatment in Canada. But the treatment was confiscated by border officials when he and his mother returned to the UK.
After his seizures restarted and he was hospitalised, the UK government started a review which helped lead to legal changes, and he was eventually given back his treatment.
‘Because of medical cannabis, his seizures are controlled,’ said Ms Caldwell.
She believed that full legalisation in the future partly depended on the cannabis industry providing better patient-centred care and products of high quality at lower cost.
Stallholder Kelly Batiste, of local cannabis product provider Vitality Vault, said the event was a ‘brilliant’ way for more people to learn about the medicinal benefits of cannabis.
‘I think any change in law has to be done carefully and monitored, but with the way the law is now some of the products available do wonders for your health,’ she said.
‘Ultimately, I think the more we talk about it the better.’
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