Tynwald has approved legislation allowing medicinal cannabis to be produced in the island.

New regulations were passed in the Tynwald sitting on Tuesday to issue licences for the production, distribution and export of cannabis products.

The government has approved changes to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations that permits commercial operators to produce medical cannabis products.

In a statement, the government said: ’The growing global cannabis market provides significant opportunity for economic development in the Isle of Man. The new regulatory framework responds to industry and consumer demand for stringent and flexible licensing of a broad range of cannabis products ranging from outdoor grown industrial hemp to indoor grown medicinal products.’

The Gambling Supervision Commission will regulate the industry, which is estimated to lead to 250 new jobs and generate around £3 million for the economy.

The commission has set out regulations, as well as starting to issue guidance for licensing of the industry and will accept hemp applications from Manx growers shortly.

Detailed guidance will be published in February.

The government statement continued: ’The GSC is well suited to launch this new sector. Its regulatory checks on the fitness of people, their funds and their competence are easily adapted to the medical cannabis sector; it already boasts a world-class system for assessing regulatory risk and conducting physical inspections for its licensees.’

Lawrie Hooper (Ramsey), who has responsibility for Business Isle of Man in the government, said: ’We are delighted to launch this exciting new sector in the Isle of Man and to take advantage of the expertise in regulating new, complex industries while providing stringent consumer safety.

’We’re confident that GSC’s regulation will once again attract quality businesses to the island transforming the cannabis export sector into a key contributor to the Isle of Man’s post-Covid economic recovery.’

Mark Rutherford, responsible for preparing the new regulatory framework at the GSC, said: ’This is an exciting opportunity and we have a sophisticated framework for supervising gambling which can be easily adapted to regulate the cultivation and processing of cannabis.

’We recognise there is huge potential for this new sector to create real positive economic benefit so we need to ensure we treat the new cannabis sector like we have treated the gambling sector. Licence stakeholders should be competent, credible and crime-free from the outset.’

Liberal Vannin chairman Paul Weatherall said: ’As a party we welcome the move towards creating a vibrant new economic sector on the Isle of Man, but now we have an approved regulatory regime for commercial cultivation and export of medicinal cannabis, it is illogical to continue denying access to these medicinal products to island residents and government needs to address this disparity as soon as possible.’

Details will soon be published on the guidance which will support the new regulations, providing interested parties with details on the licence requirements.