Cannabis prescribed in Guernsey more than 13,000 times in year

Deputy Marc Leadbeater said people need to be open minded

Medicinal cannabis has been prescribed more than 13,200 times over the past 12 months in Guernsey, new figures from the States show.

There are three private clinics on the island able to offer the service.

The clinics voluntarily report the number of prescriptions issued, but not the number of individual patients.

Deputy Marc Leadbeater, who is also a director of medicinal cannabis company the House of Green, said the industry needed "massive investment".

Cultivation of medicinal cannabis has been permitted under licence in Guernsey since July 2021.

Mr Leadbeater said people needed to be open minded if the industry was to move forward

He said: "The problem is a lot of the previous investors in medicinal cannabis are wary about investing in that area at the moment due to developments with cannabis legislation across the globe.

"I think we need new people that value the cannabis industry.

"They have no idea how much money can be made for Guernsey and when I tell them they don't believe me."

'Strict regulation'

It comes as it has been suggested more than 100 jobs could be created in Guernsey if a medicinal cannabis hub is set up in the island.

Two Guernsey companies, 4C Labs and Pura Health, have formed an "exclusive partnership" to "serve patients top quality imported products".

Aaron Davies, the children's services manager at charity Action for Children, called for "proper strict regulation in place around medicinal cannabis", and "clear guidelines around its use" to prevent the drug getting into the hands of young people.

He told BBC Radio Guernsey: "If it's been prescribed to meet somebody's health needs that's perfectly fine.

"We also know that there's a significant cost to medicinal cannabis, so one of the options is to sell some of the prescription on.

"It's that kind of thing that we're really concerned about."

It follows claims by Andrea Nightingale, the substance use lead for the Health Improvement Commission, that there was a growing trade in prescription cannabis being sold on the black market.

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