USVI pushes marijuana law! No hope for BVI?

The neighbouring US Virgin Islands (USVI) is one step closer to making recreational marijuana a reality, as an advisory board last week approved critical regulations needed to fully implement the law in that territory.

The USVI made it legal for adults to use marijuana for medicinal, sacramental and other uses in 2023, but critical regulations were yet to be approved.

Now that certain approvals have been obtained, the USVI government will be moving to host a 30-day public comment period for citizens to give their views.

The USVI government is also finalizing a list of people they think are qualified to have their criminal records expunged of simple cannabis possession. With this major movement on cannabis legalization in the USVI, questions are again being raised about the BVI’s Cannabis Licensing Bill, which has been stuck at the Governor’s Office since 2020.

The law was proposed under the previous Andrew Fahie administration, and was touted as a tool that could grow the BVI economy by attracting new local and foreign investment.

However, then Governor Augustus Jaspert didn’t give the law royal assent, stating that he had given the proposed legislation to UK officials to decide on. He also said the BVI must work with UK officials to establish into law a Cannabis Authority that will monitor the local industry.

After Jaspert’s departure from the BVI, a number of developments — including the Commission of Inquiry and the arrest of Fahie — pushed the proposed Cannabis Licensing Bill from the spotlight.

Since then, elected leaders have been focused on passing critical legislation that the UK demanded as they endeavour to prevent Britain from seizing control of the territory’s political affairs.

In the meantime, as the USVI moves forward with their marijuana laws, many believe visitors will have one more reason to choose that destination over the BVI.

The USVI has been deemed a booming tourist destination since COVID-19. Speaking in the House of Assembly on December 18 last year, D6 Representative Myron Walwyn cited a media report that said the USVI had the highest level of hotel occupancy in the Caribbean from June 2021 to mid-2022, while the BVI continues to see declines in stop-over visitors.