Jersey's become the first place in the British Isles to issue a licence to harvest hemp flowers into cannabis oil.

Jersey Hemp has been producing hemp products since 2013, but some restricted products had to be made elsewhere and imported.

The company, based at Warwick Farm in St Helier, will now be able to produce CBD products on the island.

The new licence will allow Jersey Hemp to produce an estimated 30 – 40 tonnes of dry hemp flower annually with an expected CBD concentration of between 3 – 5%.

It is estimated that annual sales of CBD products are currently worth £300m and predicted to rise to almost £1bn by 2025.

Economic Development Minister Senator Lyndon Farnham says Jersey intends to position itself as a centre of excellence in CBD production.

“I am very pleased that the Government of Jersey has granted this licence to Jersey Hemp. The licence represents a significant opportunity for the island’s economy, allowing us to begin cultivating and processing hemp for the extraction of CBD – a growing market, both in the UK and internationally.

Extracting Jersey-produced CBD will allow the island to take its place in this fast developing sector, supplying controlled and reliable CBD products with strong British Isles provenance. Jersey has real potential in this area, and the issuing of this licence signals our clear intent to position ourselves as a centre of excellence in CBD production, research, genetics and intellectual property.”

Jersey Hemp expects there to be strong-demand for British produced CBD oil:

"A truly organic, home-grown, domestic CBD product, where the provenance of the CBD oil is authenticated and quality controlled, will be an attractive proposition for manufacturers that supply CBD products to high street retailers including those already selling CBD products.

We anticipate this will allow Jersey Hemp to be able to compete commercially on a level playing field with international producers in China, Eastern Europe and the Americas, where all CBD sold in the UK is presently grown and manufactured."

Last month planning permission was granted to create Jersey's first medicinal cannabis farm and research centre in St Mary.