Politicians in Jersey and Guernsey are independently advancing proposals to reform cannabis laws, marking a significant shift in drug policy across the Channel Islands.
Jersey’s States Assembly will vote on 3 February on three options to decriminalise cannabis, while Guernsey has initiated an investigation into full legalisation through a new cross-committee working group. The parallel movements come as both islands grapple with how to regulate a substance that has already been legalised for medicinal use.
Deputy Tom Binet, Jersey’s health minister, has submitted proposals that would treat cannabis use as a public health issue rather than a criminal matter. The States Assembly will vote on one of three options: stopping prosecutions for people caught with small amounts for personal use, removing criminal offences for possession and home-growing within strict limits, or establishing a government-run trial selling non-medical cannabis to registered islanders to assess whether legal regulation improves safety.
“I think if it’s properly handled, it’s probably better to be out in the open and dealt with and properly regulated,” Binet said.
In Guernsey, Committee for Home Affairs President Marc Leadbeater is leading a requête to create a cross-committee working group that would investigate cannabis legalisation. The group would need to report back to the States by the end of 2026 with recommendations on how a regulated cannabis regime would work, including details of costs, risks and implementation timelines. A debate is expected in March at the earliest.
Dan Guilbert, a Guernsey deputy who uses cannabis medicinally to treat abdominal pain, welcomed the investigation. “It is not the evil plant it’s made out to be, there is a real benefit in people using it to avoid pharmaceuticals,” he said.
Deputy Tom Coles, who originally proposed cannabis decriminalisation in Jersey in 2024, described Binet’s current proposal as “well balanced and thought through”. Coles said the legal prescription of medicinal cannabis had created a “weird” situation where some long-time users were now legally using it while it remained illegal for others.
“Let’s stop criminalising people because all you do is create a circle of activity where somebody becomes criminalised for having cannabis – they might lose their job, they might lose their home and then all they do is fall back into criminal activity,” Coles said.
Both islands have already established medical cannabis programmes that have seen significant growth since legalisation. Jersey made medicinal cannabis legal for prescription on 1 January 2019, while Guernsey authorised it via a UK Home Office Memorandum of Understanding in July 2021.
The uptake has been substantial. In Jersey, patient numbers grew from an estimated 3,000 in May 2022 to 4,361 by the end of that year, representing nearly 5% of the island’s adult population. The number of prescriptions has increased dramatically, rising from 1,272 monthly prescriptions in January 2022 to 3,899 by June 2023. Between July 2022 and April 2023, Jersey dispensed 24,166 medicinal cannabis prescriptions.
Guernsey has seen similar growth, issuing 12,050 prescriptions between July 2022 and April 2023, and 17,506 prescriptions across the whole of 2023.
However, the proposals for further access face potential obstacles. Officials in Guernsey’s previous States term warned that any moves to legalise the Class B drug could be blocked by the UK government. An earlier investigation into legalisation during the last political term was paused due to a lack of staff resources.
Despite concerns, support for reform appears to be growing. In 2025, half of Guernsey’s politicians said they were in favour of decriminalisation, though four deputies told the BBC they opposed it.
The proposed Guernsey working group would include members from the Committee for Home Affairs, the Committee for Health and Social Care, the Policy and Resources Committee, the Committee for Economic Development and the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture. Before reporting back, the group would consult with local stakeholders, local and external experts, and examine comparative models from other jurisdictions where regulated cannabis access has been implemented or piloted.
Leadbeater’s explanatory note stated the proposal “does not seek to legalise cannabis at this stage”, emphasising the investigatory nature of the working group.
