Guernsey '420' event planned amid concerns over cannabis misuse

Medicinal cannabis users in Guernsey are to host the island's first "420" event at the weekend despite concerns over misuse of the drug.

Organisers said the event on Saturday would provide an "education factor" around cannabis use.

Bruce Caruso, one of the organisers, said he hoped the event would "bring the community together".

Home Affairs President Rob Prow said the lack of control around medicinal cannabis use was "a matter of concern".

The phrase 420 originated in the United States and refers to celebrations that take place annually on 20 April within the cannabis community.

Medicinal cannabis was permitted under license in Guernsey in 2021 and the drug was prescribed more than 13,200 times in 2023, according to States figures.

Mr Caruso said the licensing of medical cannabis was a "stepping stone" and he wanted to keep the conversation about the drug "moving forward instead of backwards".

He said the event aimed to break down stigmas surrounding the drug.

Mr Prow said he was "not opposed" to Guernsey residents who needed to access medicinal cannabis - as long as it was "well regulated, proportionate and not open to abuse".

He said he supported National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on the prescription of medicinal cannabis.

"However, I don't believe what we have in place at the moment is a regime that anywhere near meets those requirements," he said.

Mr Prow, who was the chief officer of Guernsey's Customs and Immigration Department for eight years, said he had asked for a meeting with the Committee for Health and Social Care to respond to substance misuse.

He said: "The availability of medicinal cannabis in Guernsey and the lack of controls around its use is a matter of concern for our committee."

Leah Cotterill, a Guernsey resident who lives with insomnia, anxiety and depression, said she turned to medicinal cannabis after advice from her doctor.

"It's proved a massive difference," she said.

"I'm able to be a little less anxious at work, everything's much better.

"I would always suggest just looking into it and speaking to different people because everybody will have a different aspect on it or outcome and not everybody agrees with it."

Follow BBC Guernsey on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [email protected].