Governor Bryan signs Act 9072, freezing intoxicating hemp sales

January 23, 2026. Governor Albert Bryan Jr. signed Act 9072 into law, amending title 7 of the Virgin Islands Code to prohibit the sale, possession, or manufacture of intoxicating hemp products without a license, and amending title 19 chapter 34 to add a new Intoxicating Hemp/Artificially Derived Cannabinoid Retailer License. The 36th Legislature had passed the bill as 36-0105 on January 12, 2026.

The law does two things on enactment. It creates a future licensed retail track for products that contain delta-6 THC, delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, THCA, and other cannabinoids the Legislature considers intoxicating. And it freezes every gram of that inventory already on USVI shelves until the Office of Cannabis Regulation writes rules and issues licenses.

The freeze

Section 3 of Act 9072 reads in operative part: retailers possessing THCA, delta-6, delta-8, delta-10, or other intoxicating cannabinoid products “are strictly prohibited from selling or distributing the products until the Office of Cannabis Regulation promulgates regulations and issues retail licenses.” Affected retailers must notify and coordinate with the Virgin Islands Department of Health for safe storage of the inventory until the Office of Cannabis Regulation publishes a lawful disposition plan.

The prohibition is categorical and applies to every retailer in the territory holding those products, not just the CBD storefronts tracked by VIBE HIGH. Non-intoxicating CBD products, defined by Act 9072 as containing not more than 0.3 percent delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis, remain regulated under the pre-existing Industrial Hemp Commission track at title 7 chapter 13 subchapter III. Those products are not part of the freeze.

The new license

Act 9072 creates an 11th category on the chapter 34 license list: the Intoxicating Hemp/Artificially Derived Cannabinoid Retailer License. Per-island caps are six on St. Thomas, six on St. Croix, and two on St. John. Gas stations, convenience stores, and grocery stores are ineligible. Licensed retailers must be at least 250 feet from a school or church, must verify that every purchaser is 21 or older, must sell only lab-tested product, and may not sell any packaging that mimics candy or snacks. The application fee is $15,000.

The Office of Cannabis Regulation is the sole regulator. An operator seeking to sell intoxicating hemp through this new track applies to the Office of Cannabis Regulation under chapter 34, not to the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs.

What to watch

The Office of Cannabis Regulation has not published a rulemaking calendar for the Intoxicating Hemp Retailer License. Until those rules appear and conditional licenses issue, no USVI retailer may legally sell delta-8, delta-10, THCA, or any other product covered by the prohibition in Section 3. The CBD legality guide tracks the status of the rulemaking and the three separate lanes for hemp, CBD, and intoxicating hemp products.