Black Market Cannabis in Jersey

Contraband Cannabis

Historically, the black market for cannabis in Jersey primarily consisted of hashish (cannabis resin) imported from Morocco via France or the UK. Herbal cannabis was generally relatively rare in the Island, with some instances of personal cultivation and purchases from the dark web.

Up until 2010, the majority of hash available in the Island was of low quality and often contaminated. Known as 'soap bar' due to the appearance of the standard 250g (9oz) blocks of resin, this was sold on the black market at a price of £160 per ounce (£5.71/g) from at least the late-1980s.

Around 2010 the Island's black market for cannabis changed, offering a higher grade of hashish at an increased price. Initially sold for £10 per gram (from 100g blocks), this increased over the years to upwards of £15 per gram prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

While cannabis seizures by Police and Customs have at times had an impact upon the supply of cannabis to the black market, availability did not appear to have been problematic for the community until 2020.

The limits on travel imposed as a consequence of COVID-19 dramatically reduced the availability of hashish on Jersey's black market, leading to an increase in prosecutions for postal importation and personal cultivation. This reduction in supply led to an increase in the street price of cannabis in the Island to upwards of £25 per gram.

Prices have since reduced but remain higher than before the pandemic at around £20 per gram.

The availability of medicinal cannabis in Jersey since 2020 has had a dramatic impact on the black market by providing a legal route of supply for those eligible for a prescription. There are however reports of medicinal cannabis being diverted to the black market as a consequence of the recent lack of illicit supply.

Cannabis Use in Jersey

Given that figures pertaining to the overall number of cannabis users in Jersey are unavailable, we must rely on statistics of the prevalence of cannabis use in Western European countries to provide an estimate. On that basis, it is reasonable to suggest that approximately 5% of the adult population (~5,000 people) will have consumed cannabis in a normal year.

Proportion of young people who have ever taken cannabis
Year	Any Cannabis		Herbal Cannabis		Cannabis Resin
Year	Year 10	Year 12	Year 10	Year 12	Year 10	Year 12	Source
1996	26%	-	-	-	-	-	^{[ 1 ]}
1998	28%	-	-	-	-	-	^{[ 1 ]}
2000	32%	-	-	-	-	-	^{[ 1 ]}
2002	36%	-	-	-	-	-	^{[ 1 ]}
2006	24%	-	-	-	-	-	^{[ 1 ]}
2010	13%	-	-	-	-	-	^{[ 2 ]}
2014	14%	-	-	-	-	-	^{[ 2 ]}
2018	13%	27%	12%	24%	7%	14%	^{[ 3 ]}
2019	12%	25%	7%	25%	4%	9%	^{[ 4 ]}
2021	11%	24%	11%	25%	4%	10%	^{[ 2 ]}

Proportion of young people who have taken cannabis in the last month
Year	Herbal Cannabis		Cannabis Resin
Year	Year 10	Year 12	Year 10	Year 12	Source
2018	6%	10%	3%	8%	^{[ 3 ]}
2019	7%	14%	4%	4%	^{[ 4 ]}

Proportion of young people who have been offered cannabis
year	Year 6	Year 8	Year 10	Year 12	Source
2006	0%	14%	43%	-	^{[ 1 ]}
2010	1%	6%	28%	-	^{[ 2 ]}
2014	2%	6%	33%	-	^{[ 2 ]}
2018	2%	9%	34%	54%	^{[ 2 ]}
2019	2%	8%	30%	51%	^{[ 2 ]}
2021	2%	7%	32%	53%	^{[ 2 ]}

Reported Cannabis Values

Estimated values of cannabis in Jersey in recent years
Date	Weight (kg)	Value	£/g
2010-12-29	1	£12,000	£12.00
2012-12-13	20	£200,000	£10.00
2013-12-09	71	£1,000,000	£14.08
2014-12-13	1	£18,000	£18.00
2015-02-10	36.5	£547,500	£15.00
2015-06-18	62.5	£1,200,000	£19.20
2016-01-13	0.07	£1,400	£20.00
2016-01-18	31	£516,000	£16.65
2016-03-03	0.081	£1,600	£19.75
2016-04-16	28.5	£500,000	£17.54
2016-06-28	30	£600,000	£20.00
2016-08-22	0.15	£5,000	£33.33
2016-12-03	2.93	£44,000 – £58,000	£15.02 – £19.80
2017-05-26	57.7	£867,000 – £1,150,000	£15.03 – £19.93
2017-09-03	10	£150,000	£15.00
2017-10-10	26.177	£523,500	£20.00
2017-10-23	14	£240,000	£17.14
2018-06-19	58	£1,176,000	£20.28
2019-03-17	4.6	£67,500 – £90,000	£14.67 – £19.57
2019-05-03	8.5	£170,000 – £210,000	£20.00 – £24.71
2019-10-29	10	£200,000	£20.00
2019-12-11	15	£300,000	£20.00
2020-01-11	0.349	£7,000	£20.06
2020-03-18	12	£300,000	£25.00
2020-05-12	0.24	£4,800	£20.00
2021-08-04	2.5	£70,000	£28.00
2022-02-10	7	£230,000	£32.86
2022-02-18	0.133	£3,400	£25.56
2022-05-20	0.581	£22,716	£39.10
2023-02-18	0.063	£2,200	£34.92
2024-04-12	1	£30,000	£30.00
2024-08-09	4.8	£150,000	£31.25
2024-09-06	1.6	£32,000 – £33,000	£20.00 – £20.63

Sources for this data have not been provided for reasons of privacy.

Cannabis Seizures

Jersey Customs and Immigration Service cannabis seizure statistics
Year	Total Seizures	Total Cannabis	Cannabis Resin	Herbal Cannabis	Weight (kg)	£/g	Source
2006	£1,823,670	£90,458	£89,874	£584	16	£5.65	^{[ 5, 6 ]}
2007	£656,000	£2,800	£2,100	£700	8	???	^{[ 6, 7 ]}
2008	£1,340,000	£267,900	£267,200	£700	48	£5.58	^{[ 6, 8 ]}
2009	£2,600,000	£657,824			114	£5.77	^{[ 6, 9 ]}
2010	£700,000	£32,306			3	£10.77	^{[ 6, 10 ]}
2011	£500,000	£71,288			12.2	£5.84	^{[ 6, 11 ]}
2012	£3,200,000	£2,873,046			238	£12.07	^{[ 12, 13 ]}
2013	£2,400,000	£2,155,159			140	£15.39	^{[ 13, 14 ]}
2014	£950,300	£27,475			1.64	£16.75	^{[ 15 ]}
2015	£2,300,000	£1,601,866	£1,598,971	£2,895	83.91	£19.09	^{[ 16 ]}
2016	£3,800,000	£2,728,492	£2,727,195	£1,297	136.286	£20.02	^{[ 13, 14 ]}
2017	£3,000,000	£2,917,100			146.1	£19.97	^{[ 19 ]}
2018	£2,300,000	£1,380,000			62.2	£22.19	^{[ 19 ]}
2019	£12,500,000	£1,563,000			71.3	£21.92	^{[ 19 ]}
2020	£500,000	£163,200			8.6	£18.97	^{[ 20 ]}
2021	£670,000	£294,900			8.4	£35.11	^{[ 21 ]}
2022	£700,000	£125,250			3.7	£33.85	^{[ 22 ]}
2023	£1,890,000	£510,398			14.6	£34.96	^{[ 23 ]}
=	£41,829,970	£17,462,462			1,115.936 kg

Black Market Cannabis in Jersey

Contraband Cannabis

Cannabis Use in Jersey

Reported Cannabis Values

Cannabis Seizures

References