Cannabis Industry.

Jersey has a long history of hemp cultivation.

In 1534, the export of hemp and cordage was prohibited under pain of confiscation.

A petition was granted by the Privy Council in 1691 to form a company to manufacture linen and paper in the Island stating that it "would be able to employ a large number of men, women and children and that the soil of the Island was very suitable for sowing and raising hemp".

The ship-building industry of the 19^th century depended upon the processing of hemp for ropes and rigging:

"Ships were built here of the finest wood available, and rigged with the best Russian hemp, and as Great Britain at this time was imposing a high import tariff on these materials, the Jersey-built ships could be sold in England at a lower price than English-built ships on which lesser-grade materials had been used."

Jersey's Shipbuilding Industry, Société Jersiaise Bulletin, 1962.

"[From 1828-1832,] of hemp no less than 676 tons have been imported... Of these 179 tons of hemp have been re-exported... leaving an excess of nearly 500 tons of hemp... the large remainder of the excess of hemp... was no doubt used in rigging the shipping of the island, at a cheap rate."

The Channel Islands: Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, etc. Volume 1, 1834.

The legacy of the Island's earlier use of cannabis can still be found in our language, place names and surnames:

• cannevi — cannabis
• cannevière / chenevière — hemp field
• cannibotte — hemp stalk

In 2015, the Department of the Environment commissioned the NNFCC to undertake a study on non-food crops for Jersey, which identified the potential opportunities of hemp.

Subsequently, the Rural Economy Strategy 2017-21 recommended the development of high value alternative crops and recognised the potential of hemp to produce pharmaceuticals, neutraceuticals and cosmaceuticals.

The Economic Framework for the Rural Environment 2022 reaffirms the policy on alternative crops, stating:

"For a crop rotation to be successful it is essential to investigate other high value, niche market produce such as pharmaceutical crops or plant-made pharmaceuticals (PMPs) which might maintain farm incomes and cover high land rentals allowing improved rotational practices."

A trial licence to cultivate industrial hemp for seed and fibre was first issued in the Island by the Health Minister in May 2017 to Jersey Hemp.

This was followed by a commercial licence for hemp cultivation in May 2018, and a licence for the processing of hemp flowers for the extraction of cannabinoids in August 2019 - the first such licence issued in the British Isles.

Following the adoption of a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK Home Office in October 2020, the Jersey Cannabis Agency was established as the designated licensing authority to enable the development of medicinal cannabis cultivation.

The first licences for high-THC cannabis cultivation were subsequently issued in December 2020 to Northern Leaf and Cicada Woodside.

In March 2022, additional licences for medicinal cannabis cultivation were issued to three companies, which included Green Island Growers.

Several other companies are currently in the process of developing facilities in the Island with the intention of applying for licences in due course.

Taxation on the profits of medicinal cannabis companies was introduced at a rate of 20% by amendment to the Income Tax Law in November 2021.

Furthermore, in recognition that Jersey could "offer investment in and the provision of services to the wider global cannabis market", the Proceeds of Crime Regulations were amended in June 2021 in order that such investments in designated jurisdictions are no longer considered criminal conduct.