Cannabis Advisory Board: dual medical and sacramental status does not double the home-grow limit

June 4, 2025. The Virgin Islands Cannabis Advisory Board voted 6 to 0 that an individual holding both a Medical Cannabis Patient Card and a Sacramental User Card may not combine the two personal cultivation allowances. The motion, introduced by Commissioner Justa Encarnacion and seconded by Commissioner Louis Petersen, caps dual-status cardholders at six flowering and six immature plants, the same ceiling a single-status cardholder carries.

The gap the motion fills

Neither the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act nor the 2024 Cannabis Rules and Regulations address the dual-status scenario directly. Section 779(c) allows Qualified Patients six flowering and six immature plants. Section 798(c) allows Sacramental Users the same. A reader could, on the face of the statutory language, argue that holding both cards doubles the personal cultivation ceiling to twelve flowering and twelve immature plants, matching the per-address ceiling under § 779(c)(1). The Board rejected that reading.

The question reached the Board as a public inquiry in April 2025 but could not be voted on at that meeting after quorum was lost. It returned to the June 4 agenda with a full quorum present. Board Chair Dr. Catherine Kean noted that the decision remains open to reconsideration as the industry matures, and that case-by-case reviews may be considered in the interim.

Reasoning from the record

Commissioner Encarnacion asked about the medical and financial implications of the current limit. Executive Director Joanne Moorehead clarified that personal cultivation output cannot be sold under either card type, so the question is about personal supply, not commercial capacity. The individual who raised the inquiry had argued that medicinal and sacramental use are pharmacologically distinct, citing differences in potency, CBD, and THC levels. Dr. Gary Jett pushed back, noting that higher cultivation quantities do not produce greater therapeutic benefit because cannabis has a specific therapeutic window. Chair Kean added that strain, cultivation method, and plant size drive yield variance more than plant count.

What the Board also covered on the same day

Two Sacramental Organizations have submitted applications for collective cultivation permits on St. Thomas, representing approximately 40 individuals who would register as members once the organizations are approved. Medical and sacramental practitioner and patient counts reported at the same meeting were four practitioners each on St. Thomas and St. Croix, with 15 approved medical patients on St. Croix, 11 on St. Thomas, and 1 on St. John.

What to watch

The Board did not rule out revisiting the dual-status question. Written requests for reconsideration can be submitted to the Office of Cannabis Regulation for future Board consideration. The legality guide tracks personal cultivation limits under §§ 779 and 798 and will carry this Board interpretation going forward.