The Isle of Man have announced plans to further invest in the medicinal marijuana industry to diversify their economy and spur development on the crown dependency.
Traditionally, the Isle of Man is known for having offshore financial services, their main industry is insurance, which accounts for 25% of their economy and is worth £5 billion.
They are not subject to the laws passed by the parliament of the UK and have no obligation to bring their tax laws in line with the European community.
By diversifying their economy into medicinal marijuana, the island hopes to create 5,000 more jobs and provide further opportunity for the young people of the island.
Growlab Organics, a company that grows medicinal marijuana, was given the first conditional licence last year.
Licences are approved by the Isle of Man’s gambling commission. The government decided to use the gambling commission to approve cannabis licences rather than set up a cannabis related commission due to time concerns.
Speaking to the Guardian, the Isle of Man’s Minister for Enterprise said “As a high-value, low-volume manufacturing business it fits well into what we need to do on the island. We need to make sure when things are exported they are high value.”
The other crown dependencies, Guernsey and Jersey, are also hoping to improve their cannabis laws.
Guernsey was reviewing their cannabis laws believing that the industry had now become “a global sector market”.
A grassroots campaign in Jersey were also pushing for cannabis legalisation on the island, with the hopes that a new government would be more likely to listen to their proposals.
Medical marijuana became legal in the United Kingdom in November 2018, but the likelihood of recreational cannabis remains unlikely with the current government still pushing a hard line on drugs.
However, there are other European nations that are pushing ahead with cannabis legislation, including Germany and the Czech Republic.
