Jersey’s medical cannabis industry turned a profit for the first time in 2025, posting revenues of £12m, almost £50m in cumulative investment, and exports of nearly seven tonnes.
These figures are impressive for an Island that has a population roughly the same size as an English market town.
Jersey is the only British Crown Dependency that has openly welcomed cannabis as a legal product.
Markets could make another big leap forward in advance of mainland voters with a bill that seeks to decriminalise the use of cannabis.
Jersey has already made a name for itself as a leading destination in cannabis business, not only in Britain, but around the globe.
Jersey moved very early. We have learned fast. And now we’re building a quality-led model — something that will take us forward over the next ten years,” Evan Smith, founder of Cicada Limited, a Jersey-based cannabis process design and engineering consultancy, told MEDCAN24.
The good news is that there’s no advantage to being the first in cannabis production. It is not possible to be the first in producing cannabis. “Jersey has the best opportunity in the global market, and I believe that it is the first jurisdiction to do so.”
Opening early
Jersey will issue its first licenses to grow commercial cannabis in December 2020. It is the first British Isles licence since GW Pharmaceuticals issued one in 1998. The island’s general practitioners don’t need to have any special licenses in order for them to prescribe cannabis as a medical treatment. Around 4% adults on the Island now hold a prescription.
Prohibition Partners, through Freedom of Information Requests, obtained data that shows Jersey will export 6,786 kilos of dried marijuana flower by 2025. That’s nearly triple what it exported in the year before, while its exports alone to Great Britain & Northern Ireland have grown by 348%.
Officials attribute the drop in illicit cannabis imports to the displacement of the medical marijuana supply.
Jersey’s Proceeds of Crime Law was amended by the States Assembly in 2021 to specifically include cannabis. Income from cannabis sold recreationally within 30 countries with anti-money launderette frameworks that are adequate will not be considered criminal income when entering Jersey.
Hemp industry supporters in the UK are calling for a simple, yet effective change. It is a way to signal the cannabis market that they’re open for business.
Jersey has adopted the same export policy, based on deliberate differentiation. It now boasts what Smith calls the world’s fastest turnaround for export permits. A two-hour ferry ride to France mainland can get product to Germany in 36 hours.
The most valuable parts are being ‘shipped off the island’
Although the medical cannabis sector is growing at a rate that’s enviable in comparison, its exports are controlled by one company: Northern Leaf. It accounts for approximately 90% of production.
The company, which invested multiple millions in constructing the island’s largest EU-GMP certified facility, a 100,000-square-foot site in St Lawrence, has pulled itself back from ‘serious financial difficulty’ in recent months,
By 2025 it will have exported 3,590 kilograms of medical cannabis flowers to Germany. This makes it the UK’s biggest exporter.
Jersey cannot compete with the size and scale of other rivals, such as Canada, who now provides 57% of UK medical cannabis.
Smith said, “I’d describe our frameworks as very permissive and I do not think Jersey is interested in competing there long-term.”
If we export bulk API to Germany, there is no differentiation in value for Jersey compared with other jurisdictions, such as Malta or Macedonia. There’s probably an entire facility the size of Jersey’s island somewhere.”
Jersey cannabis producers export their dried flower as raw material, which other companies will then package, label and sell directly to patients and pharmacies. Profits from downstream processes, such as the final product on pharmacy shelves, are retained by those who do that work.
Smith says: “The value chain’s most important part is shipped out of island.”
READ MORE…
ICH Q8
Smith, a self-confessed ‘regulation nerd’, believes changing this dynamic requires a significant change in the fundamental structure underpinning not just Jersey’s cannabis industry, but the industry as a whole.
He claims that global cannabis companies built quality standards on a wrong basis. It was largely ignored that the international pharmaceutical standard known as ICH Q8, requiring manufacturers to identify the critical quality attributes, and process parameters necessary to maintain them consistently in cannabis products. This is because the unlicensed product never had to undergo the required marketing authorisation.
Smith said that “everything has been missed because this is an unlicensed drug.” You have not gone through clinical trials or marketing authorization, nor have you been required to begin with ICH Q8. You need to complete Q8 before you can move on. Q9 is your process, Q10 your pharmaceutical quality system, Q7 your GMPs for APIs.
Canada’s 800 licensed producers who each claimed they were ready to export into Germany in 2018 is an example of how this has affected the industry. In the next few years, it is possible to count on one hand how many companies have achieved GMP certification.
Smith says that many certificates are being revoked now that inspectors have returned and found that the quality management system never worked as intended.
Smith, who is Canadian, explained that they treated marijuana like strawberries instead of medicine. We never enforced GMPs on producers.
Jersey has the unique opportunity, thanks to its small island and heritage in industry, to develop a special offering within this fast-evolving sector.
It has ‘some of the cheapest and greenest electricity in Europe’, better suited to controlled indoor production than the greenhouse cultivation that dominates sunnier competing jurisdictions, where temperature differentials drive condensation and mould risk.
Jersey’s regulators are also important, as they have shown their willingness to act at a commercial pace, which means rapid certification for export.
The government of Jersey has shown that despite its efforts to open the way for cannabis business, it still is willing and able to block it.
The gap between potential and reality has widened. Yesterday, I was able to see the Jersey Evening Post Reports have stated that Green Island Growers (locally owned) and Caprica (locally-owned) both achieved GMP Part One Certification, the more stringent standard which allows the release of finished pharmaceutical products.
But they are unable to acquire the licenses for manufacturing that would permit them to utilize it. Caprica obtained MHRA accreditation in October of 2025. Caprica’s island government said in April 2026 it couldn’t issue licences to manufacture because there wasn’t a proper regulatory framework.
Health and Care Jersey said in a statement that an initial review had concluded the current system was ‘not sufficiently robust’, and that work had begun on improving medicines manufacturing licensing processes.
Green Island CEO Neel Shai was quoted in the article as saying: “To tell us at this point that the government cannot yet issue manufacturing permits is to say the least, crazy.” This opportunity exists, is waiting to be seized, and producers are prepared to take it.
Smith says that if Jersey fails to expand its regulatory framework and infrastructure, it could have a devastating effect on the industry. “We will see companies moving more to a distribution-based model and the production will be moved to other countries.”
I believe that Jersey is missing out on a unique opportunity to play a leading role in the global cannabis industry. After eight years, Jersey has created something tangible. It’s a matter of political as well as commercial interest whether the island capitalises.
Jersey’s medical cannabis industry turned a profit for the first time in 2025, posting revenues of £12m, almost £50m in cumulative investment, and exports of nearly seven tonnes.
These figures are impressive for an Island that has a population roughly equivalent to a typical English market town. They should make any jurisdiction comparable pause.
Jersey is the only British Crown Dependency that has openly welcomed cannabis as a legal product.
Markets could make another big leap forward in advance of mainland voters with a bill that seeks to decriminalise the use of cannabis.
Jersey has already made a name for itself as a leading destination in cannabis business, both in Britain and around the globe.
Jersey moved very early. We have learned fast. And now we’re building a quality-led model — something that will take us forward over the next ten years,” Evan Smith, founder of Cicada Limited, a Jersey-based cannabis process design and engineering consultancy, told MEDCAN24.
There is good news: there is no competitive advantage for cannabis producers. It is not possible to be the first in this industry. “Jersey has the best opportunity in the global market, and I believe that it is the first jurisdiction to do so.”
Opening early
Jersey granted its first licences for commercial cannabis cultivation in December 2020. This was the first time in British Isles after GW Pharmaceuticals, in 1998. The island’s general practitioners don’t need to have any special licenses in order for them to prescribe cannabis as a medical treatment. Around 4% adults on the Island now hold a prescription.
Prohibition Partners, through Freedom of Information Requests, obtained data that shows Jersey will export 6,786 kilos of dried marijuana flower by 2025. That’s nearly triple what it exported in the year before, while its exports alone to Great Britain & Northern Ireland have grown by 348 percent.
The amount of illegal cannabis imported fell, however, from 146 kg in 2017 down to only 15.9 kilograms by 2024. This decline was attributed largely to legal medicine replacing illicit drugs.
The States Assembly of Jersey amended the Proceeds of Crime Law in 2021 specifically to include cannabis. This means that income from recreational cannabis sales within approximately 30 jurisdictions which have adequate frameworks for anti-money laundering will no longer be criminalised upon entry into the island.
As we’ve discussed previously, hemp advocates are now calling for this very simple change in the UK. This helped to send a message that the cannabis industry was ready for business.
Jersey’s export regime has been governed by the same differentiation-driven logic, and it now offers what Smith refers to as the fastest export license turnaround in the world. A two-hour ferry ride to France mainland can get product to Germany in 36 hours.
The most valuable parts are being ‘shipped off the island’
Although the medical cannabis sector is growing at a rate that’s enviable in comparison, its exports are controlled by one company: Northern Leaf. It accounts for approximately 90% of production.
The company, which invested multiple millions in constructing the island’s largest EU-GMP certified facility, a 100,000-square-foot site in St Lawrence, has pulled itself back from ‘serious financial difficulty’ in recent months,
By 2025 it will have exported 3,590 kilograms of medical cannabis flowers to Germany. This makes it the UK’s biggest exporter.
Jersey cannot compete with the size and scale of other rivals, such as Canada, who now provides 57% of UK medical cannabis.
Smith said, “I’d describe our frameworks as very permissive and I don’t think Jersey is interested in competing there long-term.”
If we export bulk API to Germany, there is no differentiation in value for Jersey compared with other jurisdictions, such as Malta or Macedonia. There’s probably an entire facility the size of Jersey’s island somewhere.”
Jersey’s cannabis growers export their dried flower as raw material, which other companies will then package, label and sell directly to patients and pharmacies. Profits from downstream processes, such as the final product on pharmacy shelves, are retained by those who do that work.
Smith says: “The value chain’s most important part is shipped out of island.”
READ MORE…
ICH Q8
Smith, a self-confessed ‘regulation nerd’, believes changing this dynamic requires a significant change in the fundamental structure underpinning not just Jersey’s cannabis industry, but the industry as a whole.
He claims that global cannabis companies built quality standards on the wrong basis. The international pharmaceutical standards known as ICH Q8, requiring manufacturers to identify the critical quality characteristics and process parameters required to maintain them consistently were largely bypassed by cannabis producers because they did not have to follow the strict marketing authorization process.
Smith said that “everything has been missed because this is an unlicensed drug.” Smith explained that you hadn’t completed marketing authorisation or clinical trials and were not forced to start at ICH Q8. This is Q9. Your pharmaceutical quality system in Q10 and your GMP for your API facilities inQ7 are all missing this fundamental element.
Canada’s 800 licensed producers who each claimed they were ready to export into Germany in 2018 is an example of how this change has affected the industry. In the next few years, it is possible to count on one hand how many companies have achieved GMP certification.
Smith says that many certificates are being revoked now that inspectors have returned and found that the quality management system never worked as intended.
Smith, who is Canadian, explained that they treated marijuana like strawberries instead of medicine. “We did not enforce GMPs on producers.”
Jersey has the unique opportunity, thanks to its small island and heritage in industry, to develop a special offering within this fast-evolving sector.
It has ‘some of the cheapest and greenest electricity in Europe’, better suited to controlled indoor production than the greenhouse cultivation that dominates sunnier competing jurisdictions, where temperature differentials drive condensation and mould risk.
Jersey’s own regulatory agencies also have a significant role to play, since they are willing to work at a speed that is commerical, i.e., rapid export certification.
The government of Jersey has shown that despite its efforts to open the way for cannabis business, it still is willing and able to block it.
The gap between potential and reality has widened. Yesterday, I was able to see the Jersey Evening Post Two locally owned producers, Green Island Growers, and Caprica have been certified GMP Part One, which is the highest standard for the manufacturing and release of a finished medicine.
But they are unable to acquire the licenses for manufacturing that would permit them to utilize it. Caprica obtained MHRA accreditation in October of 2025. Caprica’s island government said in April 2026 it couldn’t issue licences to manufacture because there wasn’t a proper regulatory framework.
Health and Care Jersey said in a statement that an initial review had concluded the current system was ‘not sufficiently robust’, and that work had begun on improving medicines manufacturing licensing processes.
Green Island’s chief executive Neel Shai said to the magazine: “To hear at this stage of the game that the government has not been able to grant manufacturing licenses yet is, well, a bit insane to be honest.” This opportunity exists, is waiting to be seized, and producers are prepared to take it.
Smith says that if Jersey fails to expand its regulatory framework and infrastructure, it could have a devastating effect on the industry. “Otherwise over the next couple of years, the companies will shift more to a distribution-based model and the production will be naturally outsourced overseas to third party countries.”
I believe that Jersey is missing out on a unique opportunity to play a leading role in the global cannabis industry. After eight years, Jersey has created something tangible. It’s a matter of political as well as commercial interest whether the island capitalises.
Cannabis Law Resources in Poland
Discover essential legal information about the cultivation of cannabis, its sale, and regulations governing medical products in Poland. You can use these resources to learn about the requirements for certifications, permissions and compliance.
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Polish News Registration and Interests of Cannabis Businesses
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Permissions for Cannabis Sales in Poland
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Authorization for Importing or Manufacturing Medical Products
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Permission for Manufacturing or Importing Medical Products
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Certificate of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
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Registration of Medical Products in Poland