Clarity is needed over cannabis
IT IS hard to work out at this juncture whether Health & Social Care’s decision to attempt to pursue a review of the legal status of cannabis has been an inspired move, or a self-inflicted wound to again stop the States from delivering from its list of priorities.
The reaction from a sector of the community has been enthusiastic to say the least, and unsurprisingly, the fire in that debate has been fuelled by a high-profile cannabis supply court case.
The election manifesto commitments of some deputies could well be tested this week.
What will also be tested is the island’s uneasy relationship between illegal and legal cannabis. Industry figures estimate that there are now 1,000 people locally with prescriptions for medical cannabis, said to be a £6m. business from which the island draws minimal tax, and firmly establishing another market for the drug locally, further fuelling arguments of a contradiction.
Meanwhile the island’s cannabis growing industry is said to also be at a crossroads and struggling to make the headway it had once promised. In part, they blame the actions of government, and some unintended consequences. What was considered a surprise economic opportunity, is now disappearing rapidly.
Now it’s in the headlines, Guernsey’s relationship and future with cannabis in various forms could do with some clarification.