A PRO-cannabis campaign group is considering its “next steps” following an “incredibly disappointing” decision by the Health Minister to withdraw a proposition that would have seen States Members debate a potential overhaul of how the drug is treated in Jersey.
End Cannabis Prohibition Jersey co-ordinator Simon Harrison said the group felt like it was “back at square one”.
He made the comments shortly after Deputy Tom Binet revealed that he was withdrawing a proposition he lodged just before Christmas.
It would have progressed a 2024 decision by the States Assembly – that the Council of Ministers should bring forward options for potential approaches to the decriminalisation, legalisation and regulation of non-medical cannabis.
That decision came on the back of an unsuccessful proposal from Deputy Tom Coles, seeking to decriminalise the personal possession and recreational use of cannabis for adults.
Deputy Binet’s proposition would have seen Members consider several potential routes regarding the future regulation the drug, including the option of ceasing prosecution for offences stemming from personal possession and associated cultivation of small quantities.
It also included an option to have Jersey-based cannabis cultivators – commissioned under strict licences – supply a trial of “government-controlled production and sale of non-medical cannabis to understand and evidence whether safe and responsible regulation delivers public health benefits”.
But in an email to States Members, Deputy Binet said he had recieved “a number of feedback and comments” since lodging the proposition.
“From these it has become clear that further refinement of the three options is needed, as well as time of scrutiny and consideration of the wider impacts of these changes,” he added.
Deputy Binet told the JEP he was confident that the matter would return to the political agenda following the election, regardless of who is Health Minister after the new government is formed in June.
“The decision of the Assembly [in 2024] will remain on the books,” he said.
Feedback following the publication of the proposition just before Christmas had prompted the decision to withdraw it, he added.
“There was concern about some of the wording and we didn’t want to proceed with something when it wasn’t quite right,” he said.
“There’s a hell of a lot [of other business] to be covered over the next two months, so I think it’s the right option to bring this back later in the year.”
But Mr Harrison described the proposition’s withdrawal as “incredibly disappointing”.
“It feels undemocratic,” he said. “It feels as though this is a continuation of the Jersey way.”
Asked if End Cannabis Prohibition Jersey was concerned that the matter might not be picked back up following the election in June, Mr Harrison noted Deputy Binet had stated that the 2024 vote would remain binding.
“Therefore, I would hope that the Health Minister does relodge the proposition,” Mr Harrison continued.
“But we only have to look at the States Assembly decision tracker available on the States Assembly website to show how many States decisions have not been followed through by subsequent Assemblies.
“So unfortunately we have no faith that the next government will continue this work. It is very much dependent on the outcome of the next elections. It does feel as though it’s a complete setback and we are back at square one.”
Mr Harrison said he did not know what End Cannabis Prohibition Jersey’s “next steps” would be.
“I would fundamentally like a campaign, lobbying, to continue,” he added. “Because last election it was very much more vague in that we were coming from a blank canvas, so we were trying to inform candidates about cannabis issues.
“As we move into this next election it will be very much about whether you support P.116 or not, if it were to return, so we can get a much clearer cut on where the candidates stand on this and we will be pushing harder than we did last time.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Coles said he was “disappointed in the delay”.
“However, the important part is to get things right and workable for all involved,” he added.
“I still believe that the most important part is to not criminalise the end user of cannabis.”
Dr Kirstie Ross, an Emergency Department doctor and medical director at Carpathia Clinic, said that “we need to take things sequentially”.
“When we have introduced a medicinal cannabis market that is yet to be regulated, I think that needs to be our priority,” she said. “Taking a leap to decriminalisation is really putting the cart before the horse”.
Dr Ross contended that the proposition being pulled indicated that it was being driven forward by a “small minority”.
“It was just obviously quite a sensible thing to do, to not carry on with this when we haven’t got things right yet in other areas,” she added.
