The U.S. Virgin Islands has cleared its first commercial marijuana cultivator to begin operations, marking the start of regulated commercial cultivation under the territory’s long-delayed legal marijuana program.
Joanne Moorehead, executive director of the Virgin Islands Office of Cannabis Regulation (OCR), announced during a Cannabis Advisory Board meeting Thursday that a Tier 1 cultivator on St. Croix has received the territory’s first Certificate to Operate.
“The official cultivation has truly, truly begun,” Moorehead told the board.
The certificate represents a significant step beyond the conditional licenses previously issued by regulators. Under OCR’s approved regulations, a conditional license reserves an applicant’s place but does not authorize operations. Before a full license can be issued, OCR must inspect and approve the premises, verify compliance with operational requirements and confirm payment of the Certificate to Operate fee.
Moorehead also said a temporary marijuana testing laboratory on St. Croix is now operational and waiting to receive plants for testing.
“The lab is up; they’re waiting on plants to test,” she said.
Testing infrastructure has been one of the final pieces needed before the territory can establish a functioning commercial marijuana supply chain. OCR rules require licensed testing facilities to meet accreditation and inspection standards and establish protocols for testing samples, tracking their chain of custody and issuing certificates of analysis.
The development comes more than three years after Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. signed the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act into law in January 2023. The legislation established a regulated system for marijuana cultivation, manufacturing and sales for adult, medical and sacramental use, while placing the industry under OCR oversight.
The law authorizes as many as 15 commercial cultivation licenses on St. Croix, with licenses distributed through a merit-based application process.
Commercial marijuana sales have not yet begun in the territory, with dispensaries still moving through the buildout, inspection and certification process. Regulators have previously said they expect the first stores to begin operating in 2026.
The first cultivation approval means that, for the first time since legalization, marijuana destined for the regulated commercial market can now begin being grown under the territory’s licensing system.
OCR is also working with cultivators on St. Thomas as they move toward receiving their own Certificates to Operate.
