Moves to investigate the legalisation of cannabis in Guernsey
January 18, 2026
Proposals to investigate legalising cannabis
BBCA deputy has proposed the States investigates the legalisation of cannabis in Guernsey.
The requête led by Committee for Home Affairs President Marc Leadbeater is to create a new cross-committee working group to look at the regulation of the drug.
Dan Guilbert, who uses cannabis medicinally to treat pain in his abdomen, welcomed the move: “It is not the evil plant it’s made out to be, there is a real benefit in people using it to avoid pharmaceuticals.”
If approved, the new working group would have to come back to the States by the end of the year with recommendations on how a model for a regulated cannabis regime would work in Guernsey.
The working group would also investigate and come back with details of the costs, risks and mitigations alongside a proposed implementation timetable for the proposed model.
In 2025, four deputies told the BBC they were opposed to the decriminalisation of cannabis, while half of the island’s politicians said they were in favour of it.
Officials in the previous States term warned any moves to legalise the Class B drug could be blocked by the UK government.
An investigation into the legalisation of cannabis in the last political term was paused because of a lack of staff resources within the States to finish the work.
The growth and cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use was legalised in Guernsey in July 2021, with 13,000 licences being given in 2023, States figures revealed.
Guilbert said he used the drug after he suffered serious pain because of hernia repairs.
He believed the drug led to his quick recovery: “I’d gone down as a wonder case within the community nursing team because I’d healed and people had suffered with that for months or years.
“I felt vindicated, there’d always been a self-knowledge, or a knowledge that cannabis had a real medicinal benefit, but to experience that first-hand through healing, it just reassured my view.”
He welcomed the move by politicians to investigate the legalisation of cannabis.
In an explanatory note attached to the requête, Leadbeater stated the proposal “does not seek to legalise cannabis at this stage”.
What would the working group look like?
The working group would have a member from the Committee for Home Affairs, the Committee for Health and Social Care, the Policy and Resources Committee, the Committee for Economic Development and the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture.
It would be led by the representative from the Committee for Home Affairs acting as the lead committee, in recognition of its existing responsibilities in respect of controlled drugs, licensing, enforcement, and regulatory administration.
Before it returned to the States by the end of 2026 the group would be required to consult with local stakeholders, local and external experts and examine comparative models from other jurisdictions where regulated cannabis access has been implemented or piloted.
What is happening in Jersey?
Jersey’s Health Minister Tom Binet has submitted proposals to decriminalise the drug, which are due to be voted on at the States meeting starting on 3 February.
It allows politicians to vote for one of three options:
- Stopping prosecutions for people caught with small amounts of cannabis for personal use.
- Removing criminal offences for possession and home-growing within strict limits.
- A government-run trial selling non-medical cannabis to registered islanders, to see if legal regulation improves safety.
A debate in Guernsey is likely to take place in March at the earliest.
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