|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK Jersey: Medicinal cannabis prescriptions surge to more than 72,000 in a year Christie Bailey Bailiwick Express Thursday 20 Aug 2026 The latest data shows that 72,065 cannabis-based products for medicinal use were dispensed in the Island during 2025, compared with 53,477 prescriptions the previous year. It means the number dispensed rose by almost 18,600 – or around 35% – between 2024 and 2025. And a 2024 audit of the number of medicinal cannabis prescriptions dispensed in Jersey revealed a “significant” difference in prescribing levels between Jersey and England – with 6%of the Island’s working population holding a prescription for medicinal cannabis, compared to just 0.05% in England. The latest figures come amid work to tighten legal controls around medicinal cannabis prescribing in Jersey. Earlier this year, Health Minister Tom Binet confirmed that proposed controls were being “actively developed”, after concerns were raised about rapidly increasing prescription numbers and asked what safeguards existed to prevent abuse. At the time, figures showed that 33,296 medicinal cannabis items had already been dispensed during the first six months of 2025. The final figure of 72,065 means dispensing accelerated further during the second half of the year, with 38,769 products issued between July and December. Previous government figures showed 53,477 prescriptions were dispensed in 2024 by 20 prescribers, with approximately 4,000 people receiving medicinal cannabis. However, the government cautioned that the patient figure was only an approximation because there was no unique identifier, meaning some people could have been counted more than once while others sharing a name could have been merged into one record. When questioned earlier this year about safeguards, 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”. He stressed, however, that the products were “not unregulated”, with prescribing carried out “only by registered healthcare professionals” who are professionally and legally accountable for their clinical decisions. The minister said officers were “actively developing proposed legal controls on prescribing practice”, with plans to consult prescribers and patients. The latest figures mean medicinal cannabis dispensing has continued to grow substantially since 2022, when 23,639 prescriptions were recorded. Based on the figures provided, the annual total has more than tripled in three years – rising by around 205% between 2022 and 2025. Medicinal cannabis became legal in Jersey on 1 January 2019. At the end of last year, then-Deputy Binet 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. But the Health Minister later 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. https://www.bailiwickexpress.com/news/medicinal-cannabis-prescriptions-surge-to-more-than-72000-in-a-year/
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!