https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/karmakoalapodcast/episodes/2025-12-31T00_07_05-08_00
Just before Christmas this news came in from Jersey via the government’s Health Ministry
See our story here
UK: Jersey’s government could grow and sell its own recreational cannabis
We have contacted the health ministry and Simon Harrison of End Cannabis Prohibition Jersey.
First have a read of Simon’s response to the newly proposed legislation
Bailiwick Express
A pro-cannabis campaigner is urging politicians to support “well-considered and pragmatic” changes to the island’s drugs policy.
The three options presented by Health Minister Tom Binet include plans to treat personal use as a public-health issue, decriminalise possession and limited cultivation for personal use, and even allow a controlled trial of government-run cannabis sales.
If approved, the measures would represent one of the most significant shifts in Jersey’s cannabis policy in decades.
States Members may support one, several, or all three options – but if they reject the proposition entirely, Jersey’s existing framework will remain unchanged.
Simon Harrison, co-ordinator for End Cannabis Prohibition Jersey, said the proposals align with decades of incremental reform and international guidance on drug policy.
Mr Harrison said the proposition to decriminalise possession of cannabis is “well-considered and pragmatic”, and that it “includes a huge amount of thought towards harm reduction and measures to protect young people”.
Under the first option in the proposition, cannabis would remain illegal, but prosecution would cease for people found in possession of, or cultivating, small amounts deemed to be for personal use, with indicative thresholds set in guidance.
Personal cannabis use would instead be treated as a public-health issue, supported by harm-reduction measures and education, while offences involving larger quantities or supply would continue to be prosecuted.
The second option goes further by changing the law itself, so that possession or cultivation below a specific legal limit – such as up to 15 grams or two mature plants – would no longer be a criminal offence at all, provided the cannabis is for personal use and not supplied to others.
Mr Harrison said backing these options would be “a major step forward”, noting that the two “together work really well to address concerns around personal drug use, personal cannabis use, especially because there’s always a question of supply when you’re looking at victimising or legalising possession”.
He explained that home cultivation provides an opportunity to break the black market and allow people to grow their own cannabis.
Mr Harrison raised concerns that, if none of the options are taken forward, ongoing efforts to further regulate medicinal cannabis prescriptions could lead to a “resurgence of the black market,” as current patients who may no longer be able to access medicinal cannabis legally begin to “look somewhere else for it”.
He said there is a growing “grey area” around the local purchase of CBD products containing THC, where access has expanded significantly but without accompanying health messaging or harm-reduction measures. He added that introducing the measures outlined in the first part of the proposition “would be really beneficial to that small legal market.”
“It’s a question of balance,” said Mr Harrison. “I think there needs to be a greater understanding there that this market exists in the first place. The fundamental issue with all of this is that we have no baseline data whatsoever. We have no actual idea of the number of people who use cannabis in Jersey.”
He added: “We’d like to get legalisation, but the UN drug treaties are very strict, and the only feasible method that is possible through the UN drug treaties is to undertake a scientific trial in regulated sales, and that seems to be allowable under the conventions.
“If we want to get a grip of Jersey’s handling of cannabis, then the future is towards regulated markets and things and this kind of non-profit model.
“It’s not trying to push it onto people. It’s very much a benign, ‘we’re here if you want it’, kind of thing with the associated harm reduction messaging. It’s not the final answer, but this is a continuing progress.”
Islanders can read the full considerations for cannabis reform produced by End Cannabis Prohibition Jersey here.
Cannabis campaigner urges politicians to support plans for reform
Sean Hocking
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