THE campaigner whose son’s case led to the legalisation of medical cannabis in the UK has said Jersey has a “unique opportunity” to lead the world in the area – by creating one clear route for patients who need it as medicine, and another “heavily controlled” programme for those who use it recreationally.
Charlotte Caldwell, whose son Billy was the first person in the UK to be prescribed medical cannabis on the NHS for his life-threatening epilepsy, said: “Jersey has the unique opportunity to become the epicentre of an ethical medical cannabis system.”
However, she warned the Island risks repeating mistakes seen elsewhere if it fails to put in place safeguards to stop recreational users getting hold of high-grade medicine – which, she argued, could lead to a worse offering for seriously ill patients like her son.
Speaking to the JEP following a recent visit to the Island in which she met with ministers and participated in a cannabis focus group, Ms Caldwell expressed concerns that many Islanders who do not have severe health conditions are able to get their hands on large volumes of medicinal cannabis.
She argued that this could drive the commercial aspect of the industry, in turn making life harder for the patients who need it most by pricing them out.
“This is happening not just in Jersey. Throughout the UK, there’s prescribing going on with very little clinical oversight,” she said, later adding: “It’s recreational prescribing under the guise of medical.”
Ms Caldwell said such practices may result in a system where vulnerable people pay too much for products of a lower quality.
She also raised the alarm about cases where some patients who have a more recreational interest in the drugs will ask to change prescription in order to try out different types of medicinal cannabis.
She compared it to buying alcohol: “You might say to your husband, ‘I fancy a glass of red wine tonight’, and then the following week, ‘You know what? I just fancy a gin or a vodka.’ That’s not how medicine works.”
“If it’s medical cannabis we’re talking about, we’ve got to focus on medical and we’ve got to look at the prescribing processes that already exist within our health system, and we’ve got to mimic those to get doctors to become more comfortable in prescribing this medicine,” she said.
It comes after health minister Tom Binet and mental health director Andy Weir both raised concerns about the way cannabis is currently being prescribed in Jersey.
Mr Weir told a panel of politicians in May that service users had reported “quite a lot” of prescribed cannabis being sold in the Island.
He said there had been a “notable increase” in mental health admissions among people prescribed large amounts of cannabis.
The mental health director also warned that people with serious mental illness were becoming unwell more quickly when using cannabis instead of their regular medication.
Deputy Binet added that he had “some concerns about the extent of cannabis consumption on the Island” and suggested Jersey was “swift to legalise medical cannabis without making sure that we’ve done all the homework to regulate it properly”.
Responding, Ms Caldwell said she “fully supports the work of Deputy Binet and Andy Weir” and wants to assist them in any way she can “to help get this right”.
To address what she described as a “wild west” model of cannabis prescribing in Jersey, Ms Caldwell is urging the government to step up and lead the way in responsible, evidence-based reform.
While she does not support full decriminalisation of cannabis in the Island at this stage – a move due to be debated by Jersey politicians this autumn – Ms Caldwell instead called for a tightly-controlled programme to ensure medical and recreational use is kept separate.
She encouraged the Jersey government to roll out what she described as a Responsible Access Pilot Programme, which she said would provide a legal alternative to the black market for recreational users, while making sure that the medical system stays focused on genuine patient care.
She described the programme as “designed to support policymakers in shaping a future regulated, evidence-based adult use market” that would be “rooted in public health and built on harm reduction”.
The JEP has contacted the health minister for comment.
- Read tomorrow’s JEP for a fuller interview with Ms Caldwell.
