Quality, not speed, is key to growth

The president of the Jersey Farmers’ Union is frustrated that his island’s government is not issuing licences to grow legal cannabis derivatives quickly enough.

He was speaking as a planning application for a medical cannabis farm and research centre was submitted to convert two agricultural sheds into a large, soundproofed shed for growing and research.

The owners say they want to make Jersey a research and knowledge centre and ‘revolutionise’ the industry.

There is a Klondike feel to this nascent trade. ‘Hundreds of millions’ in profits are waiting, if only the island communities can be bold and brave enough to harvest this green gold.

A similar air of urgent optimism exists in Guernsey with ambitious plans to grow cannabis and market psychoactive-free cannabinoids.

This could be a horticultural product to replace tomatoes and flowers and perhaps ease the reliance on finance as the only game in town.

However, both islands would be wise to temper such enthusiasm for a lucrative new industry with caution about how it is implemented.

Turning this into a race to be the first to stake a claim risks cutting corners and causing both islands reputational damage.

Quality regulation is essential if an industry with a lot of history is to shed the baggage of its illicit cousin, cannabis resin, and prove itself as a reputable modern provider of jobs and wealth.

That may take a little longer than some entrepreneurs might like but it is in everybody’s interests to get this right.

The NHS already warns users against ‘illegal and potentially dangerous’ products on the worldwide market. Internet customers run the risk of buying substandard products, some of which contain the psychoactive, and illegal, chemical THC.

The opportunity for Guernsey (and Jersey) lies not in mass production or in cheap goods – others with more land, sun and cheap labour will do that – but in quality products backed by authoritative regulation and laws.

If island suppliers can maintain a reputation for painstaking research and scrupulous product control they may carve out a niche in the market.

But that will not happen in a hurry.