Paul Smith, pictured, told business associates that the group, which includes Bailiwick Botanicals and House of Green, had ‘excellent contacts in both law enforcement and government’. He made the comments in private messages a few weeks after Marc Leadbeater was elected as president of the Home Affairs Committee.
Deputy Leadbeater is now facing a code of conduct investigation over accusations that he concealed giving family members his minor shareholdings in the parent company of Bailiwick Botanicals, which sells hardware to users of medicinal cannabis, and House of Green, which was previously active in cannabis processing but is now said to be dormant.
Mr Smith said yesterday that the companies simply needed to have good relations with law enforcement agencies because some of their products contain cannabinoid content.
‘We are always mindful of the need and our desire to operate fully within the law and, therefore, we have over recent years worked very closely with Guernsey Customs, which is part of law enforcement, to ensure that any products that we are proposing to bring into Guernsey are in full compliance with local laws and regulations,’ he said.
‘Through this process we have established a good working relationship with law enforcement, or Customs, at the operational level, and excellent contacts with whom we communicate regularly to ensure that this process works as smoothly as possible for all concerned.’
Mr Smith said it was ‘common practice’ for businesses to have good contacts in the States and that his firms have held ‘a number of meetings with various deputies’ since it got involved in the local industry in 2019.
Deputy Leadbeater has insisted that the firms in which he held shares until transferring them to family members in April last year are not cannabis companies because they have not cultivated or processed the drug for several years. He denies the code of conduct accusations against him, which were submitted by Deputy Robert Curgenven, and is moving a motion at today’s States meeting to withdraw a requete which could have paved the way for cannabis to be legalised and regulated locally. He hopes to re-present it once interim standards commissioner Andrew Ozanne has concluded the case.
Mr Smith clarified yesterday that no company in the group had held a cannabis licence locally since 2022 and was now solely a retail business. But he did recently suggest that the group could assist a proposed working group on cannabis law reform, which was proposed by the requete.
He said he made the offer because of his and his colleagues’ experience and understanding of the cannabis industry through previous business ventures.
‘We feel that this would be of value to any working group looking into investigating the potential opportunities and pitfalls of establishing a cannabis industry or regulated market in Guernsey.
‘Unfortunately, decisions have been taken in the past, without any consultation, which have led to the current situation.
‘There is a serious lack of understanding within the States of the various implications of introducing laws or regulations surrounding cannabis, and considerable negative bias being published by “experts” on one side of the argument.’