Proposals to tighten legal controls on the prescribing of medicinal cannabis in Jersey are being developed amid growing concern over rising prescription numbers.
Health Minister Tom Binet confirmed that proposed legal controls on medicinal cannabis prescribing are being “actively developed”, with a view to consulting prescribers and patients in the spring.
He was responding to a written question from Deputy David Warr, who highlighted data showing that medicinal cannabis prescriptions had soared from 23,639 in 2022 to 53,477 in 2024.
In the first six months of 2025 alone, 33,296 items were issued – putting the island on track to exceed the previous total, once final figures for the year are confirmed.
The surge prompted Deputy Warr to ask what controls exist “to ensure that the level of prescription being dispensed is not subject to abuse”.
In response, the Health Minister acknowledged that “unlike some other jurisdictions, Jersey does not currently have in place legal controls on cannabis-based products for medicinal use prescribing practice or an independent inspection regime”.
While the majority of cannabis-based products for medicinal use are prescribed privately as unlicensed medicines, Deputy Binet insisted they are “not unregulated”.
Prescribing is undertaken “only by registered healthcare professionals” who are “professionally and legally accountable for their clinical decisions” and must comply with recognised standards, he added.
However, the minister confirmed that officers are now “actively developing proposed legal controls on prescribing practice”, with a view to consulting prescribers and patients during the spring.
In December, Deputy Binet had put forward a proposition asking States Members to decide whether Jersey should move away from criminalising people for possessing small amounts of cannabis and instead treat personal use as a public-health issue.
Part of the plan involved allowing the government to cultivate, regulate and sell cannabis to registered islanders as part of a trial.
The matter was due to be debated this month, but Deputy Binet decided to withdraw his proposals, arguing that feedback suggested they needed to be tightened up.
Instead, he said that it would be a matter to be looked at after June’s election, and that work on the proposals would continue.
Meanwhile, as use of medicinal cannabis becomes more widespread, work is ongoing to clamp down on drug-driving, with medicinal cannabis prescribers and UK academics consulted as part of efforts to introduce legally defined drug-concentration limits for drivers, which will pave the way for roadside drugs testing by police.