It’s a happy time for people in the U.S. Virgin Islands as they finally get to implement a law allowing the recreational use of marijuana. This came as the stalled bill got a big push on Tuesday, February 13th, as an advisory board approved a list of proposed rules and regulations that would govern the recreational use of cannabis in the territory.
This has been a long time coming, as authorities were meant to implement this since January 2023. “We have been waiting a very long time for this,” the advisory board’s chairperson, Dr. Catherine Kean, said. However, they delayed its implementation for some reasons.
First, the government wanted to get the perfect wording of the bill. Another reason was that the cannabis advisory board lacked sufficient members for a quorum. Therefore, they paused this law for over a year. However, the medicinal use was approved in 2019.
Now, it is fully legal to allow recreational use on the three islands. As expected, there are many rules and regulations following this law. Therefore, there will be a 30-day public comment period on these proposed rules that will start soon.
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To keep things organized, the board is completing a registration system that they will release to the public by April, according to Hannah Carty, the board’s executive director. For religious and faith organizations, they have to pay $200 biannually to register.
On the other hand, medical practitioners will pay $250 bi-annually for businesses and can register by June or July. Carty also said that the government just request-for-proposal process for seed-to-sale operations. Therefore, they may take a while to hand out cultivation and manufacturing licenses.
In fact, they will likely not grant these licenses before the end of 2024. The executive director noted, “A lot of things are not within our control.” In addition, the board is finalizing another list of people who are qualified to have their criminal records expunged for simple cannabis possession, as authorized by the law.
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They would share this list with legislators, the island’s Supreme Court, and other important parties in the upcoming weeks. This is a very important and impressive step. About 300 people in the U.S. Virgin Islands have been convicted of simple marijuana possession in the past 20 years.
Therefore, if all goes well, they would have a clean slate without any criminal background. For adults of ages 21 and older, they can possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana, a half-ounce of cannabis concentrate, and 1 ounce of products such as edibles for recreational, sacramental, and other uses.
For medical marijuana patients, the law allows them to possess up to 4 ounces of cannabis, 1 ounce of concentrate, and 2 ounces of products. However, there will be a minimum tax of 18% on all dispensary sales except to medical marijuana patients.
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Most of the revenue generated here will go to the general fund. Of that amount, 15% will be for behavioral health programs. In addition, 5% will address homelessness, and 5% will be for youth programs. The residents of the Virgin Islands are happy about this recent update and believe it is a step in the right direction.
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