St. Croix Grower Gets the First USVI Commercial Cannabis Certificate to Operate as the Board Loosens Two Hemp Rules

September 24, 2026. A commercial cannabis grower on St. Croix holds the first commercial cultivation Certificate to Operate issued in the US Virgin Islands. Office of Cannabis Regulation Executive Director Joanne Moorehead announced it at today’s Cannabis Advisory Board meeting. The license is Tier 1, the smallest commercial cultivation tier. “That means that the official cultivation has truly, truly begun,” Moorehead told the board.

OCR did not name the licensee. Eight of the 14 conditional commercial cultivation licenses awarded in the first round went to St. Croix operators, and all eight are listed in the USVI cannabis farms directory. Moorehead said OCR is also working with “a couple folks in St. Thomas” on their certificates.

The same meeting produced two votes on the draft intoxicating hemp rules, second-round application counts, and dates for the territory’s first cannabis career expo.

Why the Certificate Matters

A conditional license lets an applicant build. A Certificate to Operate lets them plant and grow product that can eventually be sold. Until today, no commercial grower in the territory held one.

The timeline has run long. OCR published its first conditional cultivation awards on October 16, 2025, 343 days before today’s announcement. In March, Moorehead told the Virgin Islands Consortium that commercial cultivation was on track to begin by the end of that month for a small group of licensees, as covered in the St. Croix testing lab story.

The testing step is ready for the harvest. “The lab is up. They’re waiting on plants to test,” Moorehead said. Every product sold in a licensed dispensary must pass that lab first, which makes this certificate the first link in the supply chain for Virgin Islands dispensaries, all still in build-out. Cannabis cannot legally move between islands, so each island’s dispensaries can only sell what is grown on that island. This first harvest can only reach St. Croix shelves.

Hemp Rule Change One: Sales Hours

The draft intoxicating hemp rules at § 200a-8(j) allowed retail sales from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. unless OCR authorized otherwise. Those hours were copied from the cannabis retail rules. Public commenters asked for sales during a licensee’s ordinary business hours instead.

Moorehead said she suspected the 7 p.m. cutoff was a security choice, because “it’s generally dark in the Virgin Islands at 7 PM.” Board members agreed it was too early. Chair Dr. Catherine Kean first floated 9 or 10 p.m. Board member Chris Jones then moved to allow sales “during business hours” of the licensee. The board approved it unanimously by show of hands.

Two points came up in discussion. A comment in the meeting chat raised security for a cash business operating after dark. Kean answered that the change allows later hours but does not require them: “If they want to close at 7, that’s entirely up to them.” Commissioner Nathalie Hodge of the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs said the only other business hours set by statute in the territory are for bars and nightclubs, tied to the noise ordinance.

The change applies only to intoxicating hemp. Licensed cannabis dispensaries remain limited to 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. under the cannabis rules. Moorehead recommended the board make a matching change there, since the draft hemp rules would let a dispensary sell both. That would take a separate vote at a future meeting.

Moorehead also said publicly that she believes the Act 8680 restriction on sales in adult-use lounges “needs to be reconsidered.” That is a statutory change, and she said a legislative amendment is being worked on.

Hemp Rule Change Two: Transport Notice

The transport section, § 200a-14, requires an authorized transporter, a manifest, and secure transport, with detailed procedures, including inter-island procedures, set by OCR policy. Commenters asked for those details to be written into the rules.

OCR declined to recommend that. Moorehead said putting operational detail in the regulations would force a full public-comment cycle for every change and slow the office’s response to new federal requirements. Instead, the board adopted OCR’s suggested amendment: OCR keeps authority over transport procedures but must give licensees 90 days’ notice of any material change, subject to a legal or public-safety exception. The same 90-day notice already applies to testing changes under the cannabis rules. The motion passed on a roll call with no votes against.

Most of the public comments, per Moorehead, addressed the statute rather than the draft rules. OCR is keeping them on file and will not post them on its website. They are available by public records request. Moorehead said statutory complaints belong with the Legislature, not the board.

The meeting did not include a vote to adopt the full draft. Before the rules take effect, the board must approve them, the Governor must sign off, and the rules must be published. Until then, no intoxicating hemp retailer license exists, and delta-8 and THCA products stay off USVI shelves. The CBD and hemp legality guide explains what is still legal to buy.

Second-Round Applications: 26 Filed

OCR’s second licensing window closed September 15. An application counted only if it was paid for by that date. The slide presented today lists 26 applications:

License	St. Thomas	St. Croix	St. John	Water Island	Total
Micro-cultivation	4	3	2	1	10
Commercial cultivation	3	6	0	0	9
Manufacturing	1	3	0	0	4
Dispensary	1	2	0	0	3

The nine cultivation applications break down as four Tier 1, two Tier 2, and three Tier 3. No research and development applications were filed. The July 16 notice listed dispensary licenses as open only on St. Croix. The slide shows one St. Thomas dispensary application, and the meeting did not address it.

OCR scores micro-cultivation permits itself. The other 16 applications go to the merit evaluation committee. Moorehead said OCR has streamlined its scoring after the first round and will try to finish faster this time.

Medical and Sacramental Numbers

• Practitioners: five on St. Thomas and three on St. Croix. Three of the St. Thomas practitioners also have St. Croix offices. One St. Croix practitioner did not renew, and one renewal is pending. The USVI medical cannabis practitioner directory lists who can certify a patient.
• Patients: 40 active, a figure Moorehead said moves between 40 and 45 with renewals. Our USVI medical card guide covers how to apply.
• Sacramental organizations: one approved, one application pending, and one more that has said it intends to apply.

OCR is still processing third-party vendor applications and transporter certificates.

Cannabis Career Expo, October 26 and 28

OCR does not share licensee contact information, and Moorehead said job seekers have been stopping her staff at events to ask how to reach the businesses building out. The answer is a Cannabis Industry Career Expo, which OCR is facilitating rather than hosting:

• St. Thomas and St. John: Monday, October 26, 2026, at My Brother’s Workshop.
• St. Croix: Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at the DC Canegata Center.

Times will be announced in the OCR newsletter. Attendees must be 21 or older. Licensees may interview on the spot, and Moorehead encouraged anyone with budtender or cultivation course certificates to bring them. Licensees will get an info session on October 1 at 10 a.m.

The next Responsible Vendor Training is expected the third week of November, one session each on St. Thomas and St. Croix. No one can work in a licensed cannabis business without it, as covered in the training requirement story. OCR will post exact dates in its newsletter. Current openings and hiring guidance are on the VIBE HIGH jobs page.

A Seat on the Hemp Commission

At the close of the meeting, Commissioner Hodge asked Agriculture Commissioner Louis Petersen whether the OCR director should hold a seat on the Industrial Hemp Commission, now that intoxicating hemp falls under cannabis regulation. Petersen said the question had not been discussed and that he would raise it.

What to Watch

• October 1: OCR licensee info session on the career expo.
• October 22: Next Cannabis Advisory Board meeting. Watch for a vote on the full hemp rules and a matching hours change for cannabis dispensaries.
• October 26 and 28: Career expo on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
• Third week of November: Responsible Vendor Training on both islands.
• Any St. Thomas Certificate to Operate, and the first harvest sent to the St. Croix lab.