Paul Smith, the chairman of a group of companies at the centre of a dispute about links between the cannabis industry and politics, told business associates late last year that the firms had ‘excellent contacts in both law enforcement and government’.
He made the comments in private messages a few weeks after his former business partner, Deputy Marc Leadbeater, was elected as president of the Home Affairs Committee, which is responsible for law enforcement.
Mr Kitchen issued a statement yesterday after the Guernsey Press reported on Mr Smith’s messages to business associates and his defence that he was talking about the need for his companies to have good relations with Customs, because some of their products contained cannabinoid content.
‘I want to make it very clear that neither Paul Smith nor his company have any more or less access to Customs and the Police than any other business or member of the public who deals with us,’ said Mr Kitchen.
‘It is evidently beneficial for our Customs officers to have good relationships with all import and export businesses in equal measure, but any suggestion by anyone that Mr Smith has undue influence over law enforcement regarding the cannabis debate or any other matter is fictional.’
Deputy Leadbeater won a motion yesterday to withdraw a requete he was leading which could have paved the way for cannabis to be legalised and regulated locally.
He hoped to re-present the requete following the conclusion of a code of conduct investigation which is currently examining 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.
He has insisted that they are not cannabis companies and denies the allegations against him.