Bermuda: Weeks Outlines Medical-Only Cannabis Framework

On 15 May 2026, Bermuda’s Minister of National Security Michael Weeks told the House of Assembly that the Government is building a prescription-based medical cannabis framework. The path treats cannabis like any other regulated prescription medication. Adult-use is off the table for now.

Weeks, who carries the drug-control brief, said the framework is being developed with the Ministry of Health and the Attorney-General’s Chambers. Only registered medical practitioners will be permitted to prescribe approved cannabis products, and only licensed pharmacies and approved medical entities will import and dispense them. Doctors and pharmacists will not need additional licenses.

“The objective of this work is straightforward: to examine how Bermuda can create a safe and lawful pathway that improves access for patients with legitimate medical needs while maintaining robust protections against misuse, diversion and abuse,” Weeks told the House, per the Royal Gazette.

The framework rests on four principles: medical autonomy, patient protection and access, public safety and accountability, and regulatory consistency. The Minister was clear that no final legislative model has been settled. The work is in development, coordinated across ministries to align with the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. That alignment matters. In 2022 the UK governor refused to assent to Bermuda’s adult-use cannabis bill on the grounds it breached the same treaty.

Bermuda has decriminalized possession of 7 grams or less since the Misuse of Drugs (Decriminalisation of Cannabis) Amendment Act 2017 came into force. Consumption, cultivation, retail, and import remain criminal offences. The three synthetic cannabinoid medications approved in 2014 (Dronabinol, Nabilone, and Nabiximols) are the only cannabis-derived therapies legally available today.

What This Means

For cruise passengers and tourists, nothing changes yet. There is still no retail cannabis market in Bermuda, no dispensaries, and no path for visitors to obtain medical cannabis on-island. The proposed framework limits prescription to “patients with legitimate medical needs” assessed by a registered Bermudian medical practitioner, and dispensing to local licensed pharmacies. A short-term visitor with a US or Canadian medical card has no reciprocity here.

Travelers should expect the seven-gram decriminalization rule to remain the most relevant line for the foreseeable future. Possession at or under that threshold is not a criminal offence, but police can still seize, and consumption itself is still illegal. Cruise lines docking at King’s Wharf and Hamilton operate under their own carriage rules, which override any Bermudian decriminalization.

For Bermudians with a chronic condition, the framework, once it lands, would be the first domestically prescribed pathway since the 2016 Supreme Court ruling on personal medical imports. The current 2,000-gram annual import limit applies to patients sourcing their own medicine. The new model would shift that into a domestic, pharmacy-dispensed system.

What to Watch

Weeks did not commit to an implementation date. Opposition Whip Craig Cannonier pressed on whether existing doctor and pharmacist licenses would suffice. The Minister confirmed they will. The next milestones are Cabinet sign-off on a draft instrument and the bill’s tabling, neither of which has a public date. With the new model explicitly drafted to satisfy the UK governor’s UN-treaty concerns, the governor-side veto risk that killed the 2022 adult-use bill should not apply to this one.