Bermuda: Perinchief Targets Q4 2026 for Cannabis Frameworks

On 23 July 2026, Bermuda’s Minister of National Security Ryan Robinson Perinchief put a date on cannabis reform for the first time. Hemp and medical cannabis frameworks are targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. Broader adult-use guidelines will take longer.

Perinchief laid out three priorities to Parliament: island-wide speed cameras, cannabis reform, and treatment of adolescent substance use. On the drug brief he said the government’s commitment is “to review and update cannabis-related guidance, regulations and oversight, to strike a balance between the limitations of the UK framework and safe, responsible adult use,” per the Royal Gazette.

Hemp, hemp-derived products, and medical cannabis are grouped in the Q4 2026 window. A broader regulated adult-use regime will run on a longer track and requires coordination across national security, health, medicines regulation, Customs, and law enforcement. Perinchief also warned that “the current commitment does not match public discourse, which may mean that expectations are misaligned.”

The maiden-speech silence from earlier this month is now filled in. In his 15 July Senate address, Perinchief did not name cannabis. On 23 July he confirmed the file is active, gave a first timeline, and named the constitutional obstacle that stopped the Bermuda Cannabis Licensing Bill 2022: the UK governor blocked assent on treaty grounds.

What This Means

For travelers, no rules change today. The Misuse of Drugs (Decriminalisation of Cannabis) Amendment Act 2017 still governs the island. Possession of 7 grams or less is not a criminal charge, but consumption, cultivation, and retail remain offences. There are no dispensaries. Cruise passengers landing at King’s Wharf or Hamilton still cross into a jurisdiction where legal purchase is not on offer.

The Q4 2026 target is for hemp, hemp-derived products, and a medical cannabis pathway that would formalise what the May 2026 prescription framework outlined. If it lands on schedule, patients would move from personal import to local pharmacy dispensing. Tourists would not gain access. The adult-use question stays open.

What to Watch

Two dates matter. The first is Cabinet sign-off on the medical instrument, which Perinchief tied to Q4 2026 without attaching a specific month. The second is the UK response. Bermuda’s 2022 adult-use bill cleared the House of Assembly and was refused assent by the governor on UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs grounds. Any adult-use rewrite will run the same test. Perinchief’s phrasing about “the limitations of the UK framework” shows the government is naming the constraint out loud.