Environmental Impact Assessments for medicinal cannabis licenses (FOI)

Request

Northern Leaf were granted a licence to cultivate medicinal cannabis in December 2020, by the Minister for Health and Social Services. It has been stated prior to any license being granted an Environmental Impact Assessment was required. This was to ensure that both the proposed development and activity wouldn’t effect the nearby residents prior to any site being approved for this industry.

In a scrutiny hearing held 14 June 2021, the Minister for Health and Social Services stated that the EIA’s had only been reviewed by himself and the Chief Pharmacist. He was asked whether he was outside his comfort zone in making decisions on EIA’s. He replied stating “I am not used to reading EIA’s or interrogating any meaning behind them”.

How can the Minister for Health and Social Services approve sites for this industry based on EIA’s he neither understands or is qualified to assess?

Response

The Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 gives a right to request information that is held in recorded form, unless exempt. This Freedom of Information request poses a question rather than seeking information held in recorded form. In any event, this information is not held. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Article applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.