Cayman Islands: Bar Association Urges Public Input on Cannabis Reform

As of 13 July 2026, the Cayman Islands’ legal community is asking for wider public participation in the government’s cannabis reform consultation, with the 1 September submission deadline now under two months away. For anyone booking a Grand Cayman stay this autumn, the outcome will help decide whether the 2025 referendum voters approved becomes a real change on the ground.

Barrister Richard Barton, president of the Cayman Islands Legal Practitioners’ Association, told the Cayman Compass on 9 July that submissions to the Law Reform Commission’s discussion paper have been thin so far. He asked residents, businesses, and interested parties abroad to weigh in before the window closes. Submissions can be sent to the Director of the Law Reform Commission or to cilawreform@gov.ky.

The Paper on the Table

The Law Reform Commission published the 69-page discussion paper on 1 July, titled Cannabis Reform: Options for a Harm Minimisation Framework. The document lays out several regulatory options and analyzes the benefits and drawbacks of each. The Commission’s own preferred option is decriminalizing possession and consumption of small amounts without allowing retail access or marketing. That approach, the paper argues, “would be most likely to reduce the negative impacts of prohibition while mitigating the risks of reform.”

The consultation follows the 2025 general-election referendum, in which 55.64 percent of participating voters backed decriminalization. That result sent the question to the Law Reform Commission for drafting.

What It Means for Travellers

For now, nothing changes for visitors. Recreational cannabis remains illegal in the Cayman Islands. Medical cannabis (oil, capsules, and vaporized forms) has been available under the Misuse of Drugs Law since 2017, but only by prescription and with tight import and export controls. Cruise passengers docking in George Town and travellers landing at Owen Roberts International should assume the current rules apply until legislation is enacted.

If the Commission’s preferred approach becomes law, possession of small amounts would stop drawing criminal charges. There would still be no dispensaries, no legal retail access, and no home-cultivation right. Selling and distributing would remain prohibited.

What to Watch

Submissions close 1 September 2026. The Commission will then review the input and issue a report to the government. Any legislation to give effect to the referendum will follow after that. Cabinet has also flagged ganja reform and the lottery question as competing priorities against the ongoing cruise-berthing debate, so the drafting timetable is likely to follow the political calendar rather than a fixed deadline.