Call for cannabis to be taxed 'like alcohol'

7 hours ago

Charlotte CoxBBC Guersney

Work to explore the decriminalisation of cannabis was paused in the last political term

BBC The image shows a cannabis plant, close up. It has green pointy leaves. In the background, out-of-focus, are weeds. — Work to explore the decriminalisation of cannabis was paused in the last political term

Medicinal cannabis should be taxed in the same way as tobacco and alcohol to move away from "inconsistent" regulation, a Guernsey politician has said.

While recreational cannabis use is illegal, the growth and cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use was legalised in Guernsey in July 2021.

Deputy Gavin St Pier said he had "lodged questions" with the government about the scale of use of cannabidiol (CBD) and medicinal cannabis.

He said there was no restriction on CBD use for under-18s, while Guernsey had "created a route" by which recreational cannabis was available "on the black market", adding: "That clearly was never the intention."

Deputy Gavin St Pier wants to see improved regulation

The image shows Gavin St Pier looking directly at the camera, wearing a blue shirt. He is bald, with a short ginger and white beard. The background is out of focus, but a building can be seen on the right, and a road on the left. There are trees in the distance and the sky is cloudy. — Deputy Gavin St Pier wants to see improved regulation

St Pier said the "legalisation of cannabis" could ensure it was "properly regulated and taxed in the same way as alcohol and vaping products".

He said he and "a number of deputies" were concerned about the issue and had lodged questions with Policy and Resources (P&R), Home Affairs and the Committee for Health and Social Care.

This data was needed, he said, to examine the current system, understand the scale of economic benefit from CBD sales and look at ways to improve regulation - which he described as "pretty unsatisfactory".

'Quality controls'

While P&R had said some financial information was not available, they were awaiting data on prescription numbers and illegal activity, St Pier added.

While conceding cannabis was not everyone's choice, it was the "community's and government's responsibility" to ensure products are of appropriate quality and removed from criminals, he said.

He said while decriminalising cannabis would "effectively ignore the problem", legalisation would ensure there were "proper quality controls" and taxation - placing the drug "on a level playing field with alcohol and tobacco".

In a world "where alcohol does more social harm and has a greater public health risk", he said, the "inconsistencies" in approach is a point to be "made politically".

"The starting point for any kind of debate or discussion is to understand the data," he added.

In August 2025, half of Guernsey's deputies supported decriminalising cannabis, according to research by the BBC, while in January 2026, a deputy shared his intention to create a cross-committee working group to look at the regulation of the drug.