The Isle of Man government has declared it is open for business to the medical cannabis industry.
In a bid to create 250 new jobs and generate £3m a year for the island, policymakers want it to become ‘a world-leading exporter’.
Applications are now open for licences to produce and distribute treatments on the island, as well as to use it as an export base.
The island’s regulator – the Gambling Supervision Commission – has set out conditions for the licensing of high-THC cannabis and hemp.
Enterprise minister Laurence Skelly said: “The growing global medicinal cannabis market provides significant opportunity for economic development in the Isle of Man, and the new regulatory framework and guidance will offer stringent and flexible licensing of a broad range of cannabis products, which ranges from outdoor grown industrial hemp to indoor grown medicinal products.
“The Isle of Man Government has every confidence that the GSC will provide a world class regulatory structure required to regulate this new and complex industry.
“I am delighted to welcome licence applications and look forward to attracting quality businesses to the Island, transforming the cannabis export sector into a key contributor to the Isle of Man’s post-Covid economic recovery.”
The self-governing British Crown Dependency, which has a population of 83,000, approved new medical cannabis laws in January.
The island’s parliament – the Tynwald – moved to attract the industry to its shores after a public consultation showed 95% of residents were in favour of the policy.
Mark Rutherford, director of policy at the island’s regulator, said: “The GSC already has a sophisticated framework for supervising gambling.
‘We have worked carefully to apply the best of that framework to the risks in the new sector and we have educated ourselves in the technical areas that are new to us.
“What we now have will ensure that all stakeholders will be competent, crime free and capable of building a sector that is safe, trusted and efficient.
“As regulators, we aspire to put our regulatory umbrella above as many consumers as possible so that they can benefit from regulations that are well thought out and properly supervised.
“Years of prohibition mean that the markets in which our licensees will be participating are still in their infancy and still contain many uncertainties.
“To address this situation, it is our aim to ensure that consumers who purchase Isle of Man products will be able to understand exactly what their product contains through accurate labelling and independent testing.
“The GSC recognises there are many stakeholders in this newly created field and intends to extend its ethos of cooperation with other government authorities into its approach to cannabis regulation.”
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