A Jersey cannabis grower exporting tonnes of medicinal products every year has praised the island’s unique regulatory framework and redevelopment of disused greenhouses for allowing it to expand into UK and European markets.

Northern Leaf began operating in 2019 after Jersey introduced a commercial licensing regime that allows producers on the island to supply medical cannabis to overseas pharmaceutical supply chains.

© Northern leaf

Revival of abandoned greenhouses
This regulatory framework was introduced following the collapse of the island’s tomato export industry, which left many large greenhouse sites unused.

Northern Leaf operates out of one of these former horticultural structures, which has been rebuilt for the cultivation of cannabis in a controlled environment in the mid-west of the island.
The company said the combination of the regulatory framework and the availability of unused greenhouses supports its ability to scale.

He added that Jersey’s location, just a 30-minute ferry ride to France, provides a direct route for products to be shipped by road to mainland Europe.

© Northern leaf

Northern Leaf expects to export around six tonnes of cannabis this year and nine tonnes next year. He added that everything grown in the last five months has already been sold and future crops are also pre-sold in the UK and European markets.

Growing up on an island
Head of Production and Facilities Andrew Dunlop described the facility as “the benchmark for modern cultivation facilities”.

The greenhouse uses CO₂ injection, automated irrigation, environmental and gas control systems and air purification designed to reduce the risk of pathogens. The growing area is divided into compartments of 20 x 80 meters, so that different genetics and crop phases can run simultaneously.

Northern Leaf is grown on coir rather than rockwool, a substrate often seen in large installations. Mr Dunlop said: “It’s higher yielding, medium forgiving in terms of excess water or nutrients, and coir has a lower environmental impact.”

© Northern leaf

Drying takes place in purpose-built dryers that control the rate of moisture loss to maintain consistency while preventing the loss of terpenes, the molecules primarily responsible for the flavor and aroma of cannabis.

The company holds an EU-GMP bulk licence, which allows it to produce and supply Bulk Pharmaceutical API to distributors and packers in the UK and Europe before the products reach medical cannabis patients.

Northern Leaf has been under a new management team for the past 14 months, which has focused on stabilizing production, strengthening operational controls and expanding technical capability.

The business is also expanding through cannabis genetics and tissue culture in collaboration with international collaborators. It plans to increase supply to the UK cannabis market by 2026. According to estimates, the current demand in the UK is between 20 and 25 tonnes.

For more information:
Northern leaf
+44 1534 660420
(email protected)
northern-leaf.com

A Republican Florida lawmaker has introduced a bill to expand the state’s medical marijuana program in several ways, including allowing doctors to recommend cannabis to any patient with a condition for which opioids have been prescribed.

Legislation by Rep. Bill Partington (R), introduced Wednesday for the 2026 session, would also make medical marijuana registrations last two years instead of the current 30 weeks, and would waive patient registration fees for honorably discharged military veterans.

Under the proposal, doctors would also be able to recommend medical cannabis via telehealth without a physical exam, expanding the current policy that allows renewals, but not initial certifications, to be done remotely.

The measure also includes reciprocity provisions, requiring regulators to create a process to issue medical cannabis registration cards “within one business day to non-residents who are actively enrolled in a medical cannabis program in another jurisdiction recognized by the department.” It specifies that “a qualified visiting patient may engage in all behaviors permitted to a qualified patient.”

Another part of invoice specifies that physicians may be certified to receive more than three 10- to 70-day supply limits for patients to smoke medical marijuana. They may also issue a 35-day supply limit instead of the current six.

The measure is being introduced just days after Florida’s Democratic senator introduced legislation for the 2026 session. legalize home cultivation of marijuana for registered medical cannabis patients in the state

The proposal would allow qualified patients at least 21 years of age to plant up to six flowering plants for personal and therapeutic use. These patients can also buy seeds and clones from licensed pharmacies.

If passed, the bill would become law on July 1, 2026. A A similar proposal was introduced earlier this year by Sen. Joe Gruters (R).who is now the chairman of the Republican National Committee, but did not advance.

Gruters and Kim Rivers – CEO of Trulieve, the medical marijuana company that provided most of the funding for last year’s cannabis legalization ballot initiative.He also met with President Donald Trump ahead of the adoption of the constitutional amendmentas well as federal replanning and access to industrial banking.

Notably, Amendment 3 would not legalize the home cultivation of marijuana, a detail seized on by some critics of the industry-backed proposal.

The campaign behind that initiative, Smart & Safe Florida, said recently He collected more than a million signatures to place the new version of the legalization measure on the 2026 ballot—and therefore voluntarily declined to appeal a court case a judge allowed state officials to cancel about 200,000 applications largely on a procedural issue.

Smart & Safe filed another lawsuit in state Supreme Court last month, alleging that officials were acting. violating election laws, stalling the measure’s necessary review process without justification The state has since he agreed to proceed with the processing.

A In August, a federal judge ruled in a separate victory for the campaign—Giving “absolute relief” from the provisions of a law the governor signed to impose other severe restrictions on signature gathering.

In March, two Democratic members of Congress representing Florida asked the federal government to investigate What they described as an “illegal diversion” of millions in state Medicaid funds through a group with ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The money was used to fight a popular ballot initiative the governor vehemently opposed that would have legalized adult marijuana.

The lawmakers’ letter alleges that a $10 million donation from a state legislative settlement was misappropriated to the Hope Florida Foundation, which later sent the money to two political nonprofits, and sent $8.5 million to the anti-Amendment 3 campaign.

The governor said this in February The latest measure to legalize marijuana is in “big trouble” with the state Supreme CourtHe announced that it will be blocked from going before the voters next year.

“There are a lot of different views on marijuana,” DeSantis said. “It shouldn’t be in our Constitution. If you feel strongly about it, you have a legislative election. Bring back the candidates you think will be able to deliver what you think about it.”

“But when you put these things in the Constitution, and I think, I mean, the way they were written, there’s all kinds of things going on here. I think it’s going to have a lot of trouble getting passed by the Florida Supreme Court,” he said.

the last the initiative It was introduced to the secretary of state just months after initial versions failed in the November 2024 election, despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

The revised version of Smart & Safe Florida is expected to be successful in 2026. The campaign — which received tens of millions of dollars from cannabis industry players in the last election cycle, notably from multi-state operator Trulieve — introduced some changes in the new version that address criticisms of opponents of the 2024 push.

For example, it now specifically states that “smoking and vaping marijuana in any public place is prohibited.” Another section states that the legislature should adopt rules governing the “time, place and public manner of consuming marijuana.”

Last year, the governor accurately predicted this The campaign’s 2024 cannabis measure would survive a legal challenge From the state attorney general. It’s not entirely clear why he thinks this version will face a different outcome.

Although there is uncertainty about how the state’s highest court will navigate the measure, a poll released in February It showed the overwhelming support of a bipartisan voter for reform— 67% of Florida voters support legalization, including 82% of Democrats, 66% of independents and 55% of Republicans.

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In hindsight, a recent survey by a Trump-linked research firm found that Nearly 9 in 10 Florida voters say they should have the right to decide whether to legalize marijuana in the state

Meanwhile, pro-legalization GOP state lawmakers have just introduced a bill to change state law code that the public use of marijuana is prohibited.

Rep. Alex Andrade (R), the sponsor, said earlier this year Passing cannabis reform is a way for the Republican Party to get more votes from young people

Separately, there are medical marijuana officials in Florida actively expunging the records of patients and caregivers with drug-related criminal records. The policy is part of the sweeping budget legislation DeSantis signed into law earlier this year. The aforementioned provisions address the State Department of Health (DOH). void the records of medical marijuana patients and caregivers if convicted of drug offenses, or pleaded guilty or no contest.