U.S. Virgin Islands Cannabis Business License Opportunities
By Colleen Mitchell
Dec 9, 2024
The U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) will open a highly competitive, merit-based licensing process for a limited number of licenses, which is anticipated to begin in Q1 or Q2 of 2025. The following licenses and permits will be available: cultivator, manufacturer, dispensary, research and development, testing facility, adult-use lounge permit, cannabis use and temporary use permits, on-site consumption permit, and micro-cultivation permit. Licensees will be permitted to produce and sell both medical and adult-use cannabis. Limited cultivation and dispensary licenses will be awarded to the highest-scoring applicants in each island district, with the other unlimited licenses and permits granted to qualifying eligible applicants.
The rules and regulations for the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act of 2023 were approved by the Office of Cannabis Regulations (OCR) Cannabis Advisory Board on April 17, 2024, and signed by the governor on May 4, 2024. The OCR recently advised that no official timelines have been set as they are still working on preparing the application requirements.
Residency Requirement for USVI Cannabis Businesses
All applicant entities, except for micro-cultivators, must be majority-owned (at least 51%) by a person who meets one of the following requirements:
- A person who currently resides in the USVI and has lived there for 10 of the last 15 years;
- A person who has attended a school in the Virgin Islands for at least five years or more, or is a graduate of a Virgin Islands high school, or of the University of the Virgin Islands, and is registered to vote in the Virgin Islands; OR
- A person who would have graduated from a high school in the Virgin Islands but experienced temporary relocation due to a natural disaster.
Micro-cultivator permit applicants must have lived in the Virgin Islands for at least three years and have no less than seven years of cumulative residency.
US Virgin Islands Cannabis License Limits
Cultivation and dispensary licenses will be subject to the limits listed below on each island. The other available licenses and permits do not have limits outlined in the rules. However, the rules describe a scored application process for manufacturing licenses, so it is unclear if these licenses will also be limited.
St. Croix
- 15 Cultivation Licenses
- 7 Dispensary Licenses
St. John
- 5 Cultivation Licenses
- 3 Dispensary Licenses
St. Thomas
- 15 Cultivation Licenses
- 7 Dispensary Licenses
The adult-use lounge, cannabis use and temporary use, on-site consumption, and micro-cultivation permits will be granted on a rolling basis to applicants with a USVI business license who can provide compliant plans for the establishment or event. The on-site consumption permits will only be granted to cultivation licensees at their licensed premises. Micro-cultivator permit holders may not hold a financial interest in any other cannabis licenses.
US Virgin Islands Cannabis Business License Application Requirements
General requirements for all license types
- Background checks on all owners and financial interest holders
- Evidence the applicant is qualified to do business in the USVI
- Documentation of compliance with residency requirements
- Disclosure of all civil litigation in the past 10 years and all criminal convictions for all owners, directors, and managers
- Description of corporate structure
- Organizational chart
- Documentation verifying and confirming the lawful source of funds used for the business
- Premises diagram
- Proof of possession of the premises
- Emergency response plan
- Affidavit of truthful application – required from all owners/financial interest holders
- FEIN
- Proof of application for a USVI business license
Cultivation/Manufacturing
The application requirements are largely similar for both the cultivation and manufacturing license types, with slight license-specific differences in the narrative requirements. Applications will be scored out of 1,000 total points(with an additional 150 bonus points for social equity applicants—making the total possible points 1,150).
- Business plan (150 pts)
- Includes relevant experience/qualification of applicant’s team
- Pro forma
- Operational timeline
- Operations / Cultivation plan (150 pts)
- Plan to provide uninterrupted supply
- Description of cultivation/manufacturing methods
- Suitability of the facility and premises (150 pts)
- Evidence the facility is suitable in size, design, and layout for proper environmental and security controls, loading and unloading areas, cultivation/manufacturing equipment/processes/capacity
- Environmental plan to minimize carbon footprint
- General SOPs and plans in compliance with act and rules
- Employee training plan (50 pts)
- Staffing plan
- Employee handbook
- Plan to provide a safe, healthy, and economically beneficial working environment
- Security and recordkeeping plan (150 pts)
- Plan to prevent theft/diversion
- Plan for recordkeeping, tracking, and monitoring inventory
- Waste disposal
- Transportation
- Product safety and labeling plan (150 pts)
- Packaging and labeling
- Testing
- Recall
- Emergency plan (50 pts)
- Disaster plan
- Optional: social equity plan (150 pts) – only if eligible
Dispensary
Applications will be scored out of 1,000 total points (with an additional 150 bonus points for social equity applicants – making the total possible points 1,150).
- Business, financial, operating, and floor plans (300 pts)
- Pro forma
- Operational timeline
- Safe location plan
- Floor plan compliant with ADA
- Plan for safe and secure dispensing
- Environmental plan
- Emergency plan
- Applicant knowledge and experience (200 pts)
- Relevant experience and qualifications of owners and managers
- Employee staffing and training plan (100 pts)
- Staffing plan to provide a safe, healthy, and economically beneficial working environment
- Employee handbook
- Employee training plan
- Security and recordkeeping plan (200 pts)
- Plan to prevent theft/diversion
- Plan for recordkeeping, tracking and monitoring inventory
- Transportation
- Security contractors
- Emergency plan (50 pts)
- Disaster plan
- Optional: social equity plan (150 pts) – only if eligible
Social Equity Program
Qualified social equity applicants can gain an additional 150 points toward their applications in addition to the 1,000 available points.
The social equity criteria are as follows:
- Majority ownership of the applicant must be held by individuals or groups who were adversely impacted by the criminal justice system for cannabis—this includes individuals who were arrested or convicted of a cannabis-related crime or individuals with a parent/guardian who was arrested or convicted of a cannabis-related crime.
- Majority ownership of the applicant must be held by members of a religious group who were adversely impacted by law enforcement for sacramental use of cannabis as shown by a valid and current membership in an OCR-certified religious or faith-based organization.
- The applicant is a female-owned entity (at least 51% ownership is held by females and management is controlled by one or more females)
- The applicant is a service-disabled veteran entity (at least 51% owned by individual(s) with a service-connected disability and management is controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans)
Ownership Considerations
All Owners must be defined on the initial application. “Owner” is defined as a person who owns any share of stock or membership interest in the cannabis license, including but not limited to the officers, directors, members, or partners of such persons, and any person in receipt of or who has the right to receive any share of the revenues or profits derived from the business that is not a Financial Interest Holder approved by the OCR. Owner includes all types of legal entities, individually or as a group, that may be formed as commingles or derivative ownership structures for the purpose of being an Owner or participating in the rights or privileges typically reserved for Owners. Owner for the purposes of these rules does not include an owner who holds the license or shares any other interests in any entity, for which he or she is not the actual beneficial owner. Owners cannot have any disqualifying felony offenses.
All “Financial Interest Holders” must be disclosed in the initial application and any future Financial Interest Holders must be approved by the OCR prior to any profits being distributed. The OCR defines “Financial Interest” as any right or entitlement to any portion of revenue or profit from the business. It does not include indirect financial interest. Except as otherwise provided in the Rules, Financial Interest Holders shall not exercise control over the business. Financial Interest Holders may not be a publicly traded corporation or consist of a multi-part structure that renders it impractical or impossible for OCR to conduct background investigations into all relevant parties or beneficiaries or limits/prevents full transparency into underlying direct or indirect ownership, beneficial or otherwise. All Financial Interest Holders must be U.S. citizens.
Looking to Apply for a Cannabis License in the U.S. Virgin Islands? Contact us today!
As the application timeline unfolds, those interested in applying for a license or permit are advised to carefully review the rules and regulations to ensure their eligibility.
Vicente's seasoned licensing team offers comprehensive support to guide you through the entire application process. From business formation and strategic guidance to creating business plans, pro forma financial statements, operating plans, and security plans, we are here to assist you throughout the license application process and beyond. Reach out to partner Jerrico Perez at 303-860-4501 or via email to get started