A TIMETABLE for the regulation of medicinal cannabis clinics should be published before before the current government’s term ends, according to a scrutiny panel.
The sub-panel, which was set up to scrutinise changes to a law which will regulate public health services, published its comments on amendments to the Regulation of Care (Jersey) Law 2014.
The proposed changes expand the Jersey Care Commission’s remit to include hospital, ambulance and mental health services, and also include plans to make private cannabis clinics subject to inspection by the health watchdog in the future.
There is no timeline for the regulation of medicinal cannabis clinics, which is due to take place during the final phase of reforms to the Regulation of Care (Jersey) Law – which the government said is being rolled out in stages to avoid “overwhelming” both the regulator and service providers.
But the scrutiny panel has called for the Environment Minister to set a clear schedule, before the current government’s term ends, for regulating clinic-based healthcare services like medicinal cannabis, community-based medical and dental care, and adult social care.
The push for increased oversight of the cannabis industry follows calls from campaigners, clinicians and industry leaders for tighter regulation and the publication of an audit that revealed a “significant” difference in prescribing levels between Jersey and England.
It also found that some patients had received prescriptions from more than one doctor in the same month – in volumes that “could reasonably be assumed to be for more than one month’s supply.”
Health Minister Tom Binet and mental-health director Andy Weir have both raised concerns about the way cannabis is currently being prescribed in Jersey and noted that medicinal cannabis was making its way into the black market.
