U.S. Virgin Islands Fast-Tracks Marijuana Sales to This Fall After Securing Cannabis Banking Partner

The U.S. Virgin Islands’ marijuana regulators say residents and visitors won’t have to wait until next year to purchase legal products. Instead of a late-2026 rollout, officials now say sales are on track to begin this autumn. Speaking during a Government House press briefing this week, Joanne Moorhead, executive director of the Virgin Islands Office of Cannabis Regulation, said the territory has accelerated its timeline after securing a financial services partner to help licensed businesses get operational.

According to Moorhead, the Lt. Governor’s Office helped identify CannaFirst Financial — a division of Merchants & Marine Bank based in Alabama and Mississippi — to provide pre-operational financing and cannabis-compliant banking services for businesses entering the market.

“We are happy to announce that CannaFirst Financial, a fully accredited financial institution that does cannabis banking all throughout the United States, is planning to do cannabis banking, business banking here in the territory,” she said.

The Office of Cannabis Regulation has already issued 14 conditional commercial cultivation licenses across the islands, including eight on St. Croix, five on St. Thomas, and one on St. John. In addition, regulators have approved 11 conditional micro-cultivation permits, split between St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John.

Moorhead said cultivators are being encouraged to begin planting within weeks, saying “We expect, and in fact, are working very closely with our commercial cultivators to put seeds and soil by the end of February or the latest the first part of March.”

On the retail side, regulators have approved 10 conditional dispensary licenses: two on St. Croix, three on St. John, and five on St. Thomas. The expectation is that these businesses will be positioned to open once initial harvests are complete and final approvals are issued.

With banking access in place, growers preparing to plant, and dispensary approvals already issued, officials say the territory’s long-awaited legal marijuana market is now measured in months rather than years.