Alderney not next "Amsterdam on the sea", will just talk cannabis

Wednesday 13 June 2018

A discussion is set to take place in the States of Alderney tonight over the potential future legalisation of cannabis, to allow its members to express their views on the matter.

While the plan is not for Alderney to become "Amsterdam on the sea", the island's government wants to discuss how the island could potentially take advantage of decriminalised cannabis in the future.

The item is scheduled to be the fifth on the meeting's agenda tonight, which is also due to include the final steps for legalising same sex marriage.

It comes after several areas of the national media covered the item, claiming Alderney could be the first place in the British Isles to fully  legalise the drug - but the Chairman of the Policy and Finance Committee, James Dent, said the coverage had blown it "totally out of proportion".

"I think some of the coverage we have received has been looking at this on totally the wrong level," he said.

"We are certainly not going to be becoming Amsterdam on the sea.

"We are mostly looking at opportunities to grow THC free cannabis, and we have had a couple of commercial people approach us to talk about the idea, but that is all so far."

Mr Dent said it was decided at the States of Alderney's February meeting that they should debate the topic because it was felt there might be cause for revising the penalties and criminality, and that discussion was needed around what commercial opportunities there could be.

"Many people now believe that the criminalisation of drug use is not effective in preventing addiction and that it is better to move to treating drug addiction as a health issue," he said.

"Elsewhere in the World, many jurisdictions have now fully or partially legalised possession for personal use and a number of jurisdictions permit cultivation for personal or medicinal use. Use for medicinal purposes is for example now legal in 29 of the 50 US States, in Canada, the Czech Republic and Israel."

Mr Dent addressed the potential restrictions legality of the drug could allow, and also the matter of cultivation: "The growing and processing of such plants on Alderney and under licence has been suggested."

While this meeting's aim is to allow the States members of Alderney to express their views on the matter, it is hoped that this might stimulate a wider public debate on all these matters, "particularly of the economic potential from a liberalisation of some aspects of the current legal framework".