Expand Jersey: Parish Hall penalties, medical dispensing and licensing history

Cannabis is a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law 1978, and; court prosecution for possession carries up to five years in prison or a fine, or both. Small amounts are dealt with at a Parish Hall enquiry: under[@mdl] The Attorney General’s directions, allow a first or qualifying second written caution for up to 15 g usually broughtof herb or resin, with the second normally requiring a written caution for a first offence and again after a year. Since since the 2024 public order lawfirst.[@guidance] For eligible third offences, a Centenier may insteadcan impose a level 1£200 fine for possessing a Class B drug ifwhen the person accepts it;admits the fineoffence and there is recorded by police but does not appear onno evidence of dealing or onward distribution.[@guidance] A [Parish Hall fine](/history/jersey-centenier-drug-fines-2024/) stays off the person's criminal record but remains in police records. Larger amounts and repeat cases go to court.[@p116]

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upto 15 g · treatment criminal · noteterm Parish Hall enquiry; written caution · note Discretionary first or level 1 finequalifying second offence; no dealing or onward distribution, not on thelabel Eligible third personal offence at Parish Hall · treatment criminal record· term Article 28A; Attorney General directions · repeat 3 · fine 200 · note Admission and acceptance required; within the guidance quantity ceiling, label Possession prosecuted in court · treatment criminal · term Article 8(1), Schedule 4 · prison 5 years · note Up to five years in prisonPrison or a fine, or both

Growing cannabisUnauthorised cultivation is production of a Class B drug, with up to 14fourteen years in prison or a fine, or both.[@mdl] Personal cultivationgrowing has no general exemption; one of the options put to the States Assembly in 2025 would only have stopped prosecuting the growing of small quantities.[@mdl] Ministerial cultivation licences provide a separate commercial route for medical cannabis and low-THC industrial hemp.[@scrutiny22]

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label Production of a Class B drugUnauthorised cannabis production · treatment criminal · term Article 5, Schedule 4 · prison 14 years · note OrPrison or a fine, or both; personal cultivation has no general personal-plant exemption

Users withThe Attorney General directs eligible small amounts are mostly handled at thepersonal cases toward Parish Hall with cautions orand summary fines. Class B convictions, which include[@guidance] The directions retain discretion and require no evidence of dealing or onward distribution.[@guidance] They cover herb and resin up to 15 g; cannabis oil is listed with zero tolerance, fell from 65while oil in 2020confectionery requires case-by-case referral to 35 in 2021. Production and supply are prosecuted in the courtsAttorney General.[@guidance]

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Supplying or, offering to supply a Class B drugor possessing cannabis with intent to supply it carries up to 14fourteen years in prison or a fine, or both.[@mdl] The law draws no line for giving cannabisincludes unpaid supply to a friend without paymentanother person.[@mdl] The Parish Hall caution directions exclude evidence of dealing or onward distribution.[@guidance]

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label SupplyingSupply, offer to supply or offeringpossession with intent to supply a Class B drug · treatment criminal · term Articles 5 and 8(2), Schedule 4 · prison 14 years · note OrPrison or a fine; no exception for giving to a friend without payment, or both

UseOrdinary cannabis use is dealt withaddressed through the possession offence. In June 2024 in the States Assembly rejected decriminalisingdrug law.[@mdl] Allowing premises to be used for prohibited cannabis smoking or supply is separately criminalised.[@mdl] The proposed personal possession and recreational -use by 23 votes to 22reform remained marked withdrawn on the Assembly’s published record when reviewed.[@p116]

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There is no legal adult-use source. Doctors can prescribe medicalmedicinal cannabis privately and pharmacies dispense it: an audit counted 23 under controlled-drug rules.[@audit24] A [July 2026 disclosure](/history/jersey-medical-dispensing-total-2026/) records 72,639 private prescriptions for about 4065 cannabis-based medicinal products dispensed during 2025.[@dispense26] This is a product-item count,361 patients in 2022, roughly 6% not a count of the working populationunique patients or consultations.[@dispense26]

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Total abolition took effect in Jersey with the 2006 Human Rights Order giving effect to the 13th Protocol; noThe drug law’s Schedule 4 punishes cannabis offence carriesoffences with finite prison terms or fines, or both, without a capital sentencepenalty.[@wikipdpmdl]

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There isAdults have no lawful general recreational supply or home-growing allowance. Small amounts are usually settled[@mdl] Eligible small possession and personal-import cases can end at a Parish Hall enquiry with a written caution or a fine, neither of which appears on the person's criminal record; larger amounts and repeat cases go to court.[@mdl,hs,p116guidance] In June 2024 the Assembly rejected decriminalising personal possession and recreational use by 23 votes to 22, and a fresh The [2025 reform proposition](/history/jersey-reform-debate was put off until after the June -deferred-2026 election/) is marked withdrawn on the Assembly’s record.[@be24,hsp116]

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Commercial growing is limited to licensed medical producersBusinesses need separate licences for cannabis cultivation and handling controlled products. Northern Leaf[@scrutiny22] The Assembly’s [2022 scrutiny report](/history/jersey-medical-industry-scrutiny-2022/) identifies low-THC industrial hemp, the first local grower approved by the UK medicines regulatorhigher-THC cultivation, can produce eight tonnes a year and made its first commercial shipmentproduction/supply permissions as distinct licence categories.[@scrutiny22] It describes security, planning and ministerial oversight of high-THC flower to the United Kingdom in November 2023, after an earlier shipment to Australiamedicinal industry.[@scrutiny22]

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MedicalPatients receive medicinal cannabis is prescribed privately by doctors, some at cannabis clinics, and patientsas an unlicensed medicine that may also bring it in under a personal import licencelawfully be prescribed. Eighteen prescribers were recorded in[@audit24] Pharmacists must submit monthly dispensing returns to the Chief Pharmacist.[@audit24] The [2024 audit](/history/jersey-medical-dispensing-audit-2024/) examined 2022 and twenty in the first half of 2023, including prescribing volumes and overlapping prescribers. In October[@audit24] The July 2026 disclosure adds the government said it planned a law to regulate prescribers, to start in early 2027full-year 2025 item total but no unique-patient count.[@dispense26]

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A Parish Hall caution or acautions and Centenier's fine does fines do not appear on the person'’s criminal record, while a case that goes to court can. In June 2024 the Assembly asked ministers for proposals on decriminalisation, legalisation and regulation; three options were tabled[@p116] The government’s proposal explains that they remain in 2025police records indefinitely, butbecause the debate set for 3 February 2026 was put off until afterrehabilitation law does not address them.[@p116] Court prosecution can instead result in a conviction under the June 2026 electiondrug law.[@mdl]

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No cannabis clubs are known. Supplying cannabis to another person is an offence,requires lawful authority under the drug law.[@mdl] The legislation provides no general recreational collective-growing or membership-supply exemption.[@mdl] Medical and none ofindustrial growing are licensed activities under the 2025 reform options would have created clubsseparate routes described by the Assembly’s scrutiny report.[@scrutiny22]

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There isVisitors have no legalgeneral recreational supplyretail supplier.[@mdl] The current caution guidance expressly allows discretion for short-stay visitors, so a visitor has no lawful way to obtain cannabiswhere attending the Alcohol and Drugs Service would be impractical. Medical cannabis requires a prescription or a personal import licence[@guidance] Eligibility conditions still apply, including quantity and absence of onward supply.[@guidance]

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States Assembly of Jersey — P.116/2025, Future approach to personal cannabis use in Jersey (19 December 2025) Jersey Attorney General — Personal amounts of certain controlled drugs, current directions Government of Jersey — Medicinal Cannabis Dispensing Audit, 28 March 2024 Health and Care Jersey — Cannabis prescriptions dispensed 2025, FOI published 30 July 2026 Jersey Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel — Medicinal cannabis licensing, 6 January 2022 States Assembly of Jersey — P.116/2025, Future approach to personal cannabis use in Jersey (19 December 2025) Wikipedia — Capital punishment in the United Kingdom (Jersey total abolition via the 2006 Human Rights Order, 13th Protocol) 7 unchanged

GBP

strict

Industrial hemp growing is licensed separately from higher-THC cannabis.[@scrutiny22] The 2022 scrutiny report identifies the low-THC cultivation licence as covering plants with no more than 0.2% THC.[@scrutiny22] The drug law separately excludes mature stalk, its fibre and seeds once separated from the plant; flowers and leaves remain controlled material.[@mdl]

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grey

open

licensed

regulated

Seeds separated from the plant are excluded from the drug law’s cannabis definition.[@mdl] Germinating them creates a plant, and unauthorised production remains criminal.[@mdl] Cultivation licences and controlled-product permissions supply the route for authorised growers and their plant material.[@scrutiny22]

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