US Virgin Islands: Governor Calls For Cannabis Legalization To Generate Tax Revenues

Governor Albert Bryan Jr. (D) of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) is calling on the legislature to legalize marijuana and generate revenues for the Territory. Bryan included expected revenues in an executive budget request that he sent to lawmakers on Tuesday. The document anticipates $10 million in tax revenues from legal cannabis sales, reported local media.

The Governor said he plans to call the Legislature into Special Session to address the Adult-Use Cannabis Act and will give lawmakers plenty of time to consider the proposed measure.

“We have a $40 million funding gap this year that we need to fill with different types of funding resources. We want to get that going,” the Governor said during Tuesday’s weekly briefing at Government House.

Gov. Bryan is concerned about the level of public expenditure after the COVID recovery and the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

“Medicinal cannabis use costs us money. It doesn’t make us a dime. We don’t tax it because it’s medicine. So we need to get this bill moving,” the Governor added in reference to the Territory’s medical cannabis program and the urgent need to generate revenue streams.

Government Release Draft Regulations

On February 28, 2022, the USVI Cannabis Advisory Board and the Office of Cannabis Regulations presented the introduction to medical cannabis draft rules and regulations, reported the stcroixsource.com. The Office of Cannabis Regulation was established in 2019 to allow and provide for the beneficial use of medical cannabis in a regulated system or alleviating symptoms caused by debilitating medical conditions and their medical treatments.

The new regulations should be announced once reviewed by the Senate. According to the draft, there will be two types of applications for patients (including physicians and caregivers); and businesses, including producers or growers, manufacturers, retailers or dispensaries, researchers, third-party vendors and laboratory testing.

Photo by Josh Duncan on Unsplash.