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The U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) is set to become the next jurisdiction in the country to legalize marijuana, with a bill awaiting imminent action from the pro-reform governor. The sponsor wants to be clear, however, that the legislation is not meant to be an economic panacea for the territory, even if it might bolster tourism and help straighten up the existing medical cannabis program.<\/p>\n
Sen. Janelle Sarauw (I) told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Tuesday that she hasn\u2019t heard from the governor\u2019s office about his intentions for her legalization bill that the legislature delivered to his desk<\/a> late last month. But she said it would be \u201cfoolish\u201d of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. (D) \u201cnot to sign it,\u201d especially given his repeated campaign pledges backing the reform in general even if he differs on specific provisions.<\/p>\n The relationship between the senator and governor as it relates to cannabis legalization has been tense, despite the fact that both support ending prohibition and creating a regulated market. Bryan publicly pressured Sarauw to file her bill as it was being finalized, and the senator has been critical of the governor\u2019s own earlier reform proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sarauw said that it was imperative that the legislation wasn\u2019t rushed, as she didn\u2019t want to see a repeat of what she\u2019s described as a poor rollout of the medical cannabis law that was enacted<\/a> early in Bryan\u2019s administration. Her legislation serves a dual purpose to that end: legalizing marijuana for adult use while substituting the medical cannabis law.<\/p>\n \u201cI combined both of them so they can move parallel to each other,\u201d she said. \u201cThe major difference in the recreational piece is that a recreational piece allows for a greater component around social equity in the territory.\u201d<\/p>\n Ending prohibition is a major reform\u2014but not one that she wants people to assume will resolve the territory\u2019s economic issues. While Bryan has made much about the potential boost in tourism that he believes legalization can produce for USVI, for example, Sarauw wants to temper expectations, saying it will provide visitors with \u201canother layer, an amenity\u201d to enjoy, but not something that she expects will attract tourists on its own.<\/p>\n The governor hasn\u2019t said whether he plans to sign the bill or not, but the legislature\u2019s website says that it was delivered to him on January 9. He has ten days to sign, veto or allow the legislation to take effect without his signature.<\/p>\n As they worked to finalize the reform measure, a delegation of USVI lawmakers, including Sarauw, visited Colorado last year to learn about the state\u2019s experience as one of the first to legalize recreational cannabis.<\/p>\n The senator said that she and her colleagues drew many lessons from the trip that helped inform their approach. They learned, for instance, the importance of establishing robust packaging and labeling requirements to prevent youth access and ensuring that the territory has the resources to enforce those regulations.<\/p>\n She also said that they heard \u201cunequivocally\u201d from officials that the governor\u2019s ambitious revenue projections for legalization were \u201cinflated,\u201d and she wants to set the record straight that it will take years of implementation before USVI starts to see significant economic benefits from the program.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of takeaways,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve focused on in the government has been the good, the good, the good [of legalization].\u201d But, \u201clike anything else,\u201d there are concerns that need to be addressed\u2014\u201dand we definitely have to learn from the mistakes of the states.\u201d<\/p>\n She said that she does expect the territory\u2019s legalization law, if the governor ultimately enacts it, will continue to be amended.<\/p>\n One unique part of the process to legalize cannabis in the territory concerns the role of the federal government. While the Justice Department has generally taken a hands-off approach to state-level cannabis markets, USVI is much more closely enmeshed with the federal government as a territory without its own constitution, Sarauw said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hoping that the federal government does not interfere, but I honestly can\u2019t say that they won\u2019t because we already have a very heavy federal presence now,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is also why I moved [to hold a Constitutional Convention] because we do need a constitution that will give us some level of political maturity.\u201d<\/p>\n The introduction of the senator\u2019s reform legislation came months after the governor included cannabis legalization revenue in a budget proposal<\/a>\u00a0that he sent to lawmakers and indicated that he might convene a special session to enact the policy change.<\/p>\n Here are some of the main provisions of Sarauw\u2019s legalization bill<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n Adults over the age of 21 could possess up to two ounces of marijuana, fourteen grams of cannabis concentres and one ounce of cannabis products such as edibles, ointments and tinctures.<\/p>\n The legislation would create an Office of Cannabis Regulation (OCR), tasked with issuing marijuana business licenses, overseeing the industry and setting rules on issues like advertising, packaging and labeling.<\/p>\n There would be several license and permit types, including for cannabis manufacturers, retailers, cultivators, micro-cultivators, testing laboratories and on-site consumption entities.<\/p>\n There would be caps on how many licenses OCR could grant for each of the territory\u2019s main islands. Regulators could issue more after January 1, 2025 if they conduct a study demonstrating that the expansion is needed to meet consumer demand.<\/p>\n Individuals who use marijuana for sacramental purposes could apply for their own cultivation permits.<\/p>\n There would be a tax of no less than 18 percent on marijuana purchased from dispensaries, but that would not apply to medical cannabis. The bill also lays out licensing fees and calls for a 50 cent per gram tax on cannabis cultivators who sell marijuana to other licensees.<\/p>\n Revenue would be split among programs to address behavioral health, homelessness and youth recreation, as well as administration of the cannabis program and the territory\u2019s general fund.<\/p>\n There would be a track-and-trace program for cannabis products.<\/p>\n There are also several equity components in the legalization bill, including prioritized application scoring for minority, women and service-injured entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n There would be a 100 milligram THC cap on edibles, and each serving could contain up to 10 milligrams.<\/p>\n Additionally, there are residency requirements for marijuana business ownership.<\/p>\n There are packaging and labeling restrictions, with the bill stipulating that labels must include health warnings and be designed in a way that doesn\u2019t appeal to people under 21.<\/p>\n \u2014 The legislature separately approved complementary expungements legislation<\/a> last month. It was amended ahead of passage and now provides for automatic relief from the courts for people with prior convictions involving up to two ounces of marijuana. As introduced, the legislation would have required people to petition the courts.<\/p>\n Bryan, who has also talked about\u00a0marijuana as a safer alternative to opioids<\/a>\u00a0for pain treatment,\u00a0stressed\u00a0in May that it\u2019s \u201cbeen three years now moving\u201d the issue, and so lawmakers need to \u201cget it through the legislature so we can get some money going.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u00a0signed a medical cannabis legalization bill<\/a>\u00a0into law in 2019.<\/p>\n There was a hearing on the governor\u2019s adult-use legalization proposal in 2020, with\u00a0several government agencies testifying in favor of the reform<\/a>\u00a0and outlining how a regulated cannabis market could help the territory, especially given its economic needs.<\/p>\n Bryan has also emphasized the need to legalize, tax and regulate cannabis to generate revenue amid the\u00a0economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n If the governor signs the legalization bill, USVI wouldn\u2019t be the first U.S. territory to enact the reform.<\/p>\n The governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)\u00a0signed a bill to end prohibition in 2018<\/a>. The following year, the\u00a0governor of Guam signed legalization into law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Washington State Lawmakers Approve Interstate Marijuana Commerce Bill In Committee<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Would Be \u2018Foolish\u2019 Not To Sign Marijuana Legalization Bill, Senate Sponsor Says<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) is set to become the next jurisdiction in the country to legalize marijuana, with a bill awaiting imminent action from the pro-reform governor. The sponsor wants to be clear, however, that the legislation is not meant to be an economic panacea for the territory, evenContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":60807,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60806"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60806"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60808,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60806\/revisions\/60808"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Would Be \u2018Foolish\u2019 Not To Sign Marijuana Legalization Bill, Senate Sponsor Says<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"