US Virgin Islands cannabis market accelerates with cultivators and dispensaries nearing launch

The US Virgin Islands cannabis industry is picking up pace, with multiple growing operations and retail outlets preparing to serve customers in the coming weeks, the Office of Cannabis Regulation reported this week.

Eleven micro-cultivation businesses have progressed to the compliance review stage, spread across St. Croix (three), St. Thomas (four), St. John (three), and Water Island (one). On the commercial side, St. Croix will see its second large-scale cultivator launch operations by week's end, followed shortly by a third facility, Office of Cannabis Regulation Executive Director Joanne Moorehead told the Cannabis Advisory Board on Thursday.

For retail, the territory currently operates one active dispensary, which is working with regulators to stock products ahead of the festival season. Two more dispensaries on St. John are nearly ready to open but are holding for inventory to arrive before they can start selling.

Ms. Moorehead said the office plans to evaluate and score a fresh batch of applications for dispensaries, cultivation sites, and manufacturing facilities by the end of October. She told the board that clearer timelines for business openings should emerge within the next month or two.

The board also examined restrictions in the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act that prevent certain government figures from holding cannabis licenses. The law bars anyone who currently holds or held elected office in the executive or legislative branches within the past 12 months from owning cannabis businesses. The same applies to staff at the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, the Office of Cannabis Regulation, and members of the Cannabis Advisory Board itself.

Ms. Moorehead raised a new question: what happens when someone already owns a licensed cannabis business and then runs for elected office? Board member Chris Jones worried about conflicts of interest, stating that licenseholders should lose their licenses if elected. Cannabis Advisory Board Chair Catherine Kean said the issue involved legal and ethical dimensions that needed fuller board discussion.

Thursday's meeting proceeded without a quorum, so no formal votes took place. Any changes to the restrictions would require action by the legislature, not the board alone.