How to Open A Dispenasry In The Virgin Islands

In January of 2023, Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. sign the Virgin Islands Cananbis Use Act into law, Covering the production, distribution, and use of cannabis. This is a highly anticipated law that would give new potential with tourism opportunities in the Carribean and with have to be implemented within a given time frame. This is to prevent lack of regulation like what happened in 2019 when regulation was never implemeneted for their medical cannabis program.

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On the Isles, The Virgin Islands Office of Cannabis Regulation (OCR) with have exclusive authority to create regulations on the license types of cannabis. however the regulations for such licenses have yet to be drafted and approved. This is also including the opportunity for expungment of prior cannabis offences on the island which will be available through the Virgin Islands Department of Justice.

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Medical Cannabis is also legal within the region yet solemly talked about. Where a voter referendum has passed bill 32-0135 in 2019. In 2020 Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. also appropriated $250,000 to aquire cannabis related software.

 

Available License Types

Once the regulations on the Islands have been drafted and approved we can expect to see information on the following license types:

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• Cultivation

• Manufacturing

• Dispensary

• Testing

 

How big is the opportunity on the Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands is a popular tourist destination as it sits in the carribean, a already ripe tourism, vaction spot for many around the world. With 3 main islands plus 50 other minor islands at aproximately 133 square miles we can expect to see a fair amout of growth for the cannabis industry in this region. The main expectation here is that the cannabis industry will help grow and support the tourism industry on the islands, plus support the medical patients there. So with those factors at play it would be safe to assume that you will be gaining a lot of traction opening a cannabis business on the island with support from domCresidents but also international residents as well.

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Application, Licensing, and Startup Fees

Regulation has not been defined yet, there is no definitive application or licensing fees as of yet. After the regulation has been drafted and approved then we can expect to see those figures. However the start-up fees for the medical cannabis application rounds ranged between $500 and $5,000.