DLCA orders immediate halt to intoxicating hemp sales under Act 9072
The Virgin Islands Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs issued a press release on February 17, 2026 ordering every USVI retailer to immediately stop selling delta-8, delta-10, and THCA products, secure inventory from public access, and report holdings to the Office of Cannabis Regulation.
· Updated April 12, 2026
February 17, 2026. The Virgin Islands Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs issued a public halt order directing every territorial retailer to immediately stop selling products containing delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, or any other intoxicating cannabinoid covered by Act 9072. The order is the first public enforcement action on Section 3 of the hemp law Governor Bryan signed 25 days earlier.
What the order requires
Affected retailers must remove covered inventory from shelves, secure the products from public access, coordinate with the Virgin Islands Department of Health for safe storage, and submit a full inventory list to the Office of Cannabis Regulation. The halt order does not set a date-certain deadline for inventory reporting beyond “immediately,” nor does it provide a disposition plan for the secured product. Those details sit with the Office of Cannabis Regulation’s 90-day rulemaking window, which Executive Director Joanne Moorehead said at the February 12, 2026 Cannabis Advisory Board meeting runs through April 23, 2026.
A quote attributed in the release to the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs frames the order in public-health terms: “This law is about protecting our community, especially our youth, and ensuring that businesses operate responsibly and within the law.”
Who is affected
The halt order reaches every Virgin Islands retailer holding delta-8, delta-10, THCA, or related intoxicating cannabinoid products, whether or not those retailers currently hold any cannabis license. It does not apply to non-intoxicating hemp or to cannabidiol products compliant with the 0.3 percent delta-9 THC threshold under Act 9072 Section 1(a), which remain regulated by the Department of Agriculture under title 7 V.I.C. chapter 13 subchapter III. Only the intoxicating subset crosses into Office of Cannabis Regulation jurisdiction.
The open legal question
Act 9072 Section 3 requires retailers to “strictly prohibit” sales until the Office of Cannabis Regulation issues regulations and licenses. It does not provide compensation for product already in inventory when the law took effect, a provision that would face its first federal court challenge two days after the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs halt order, when Homegrown Bar & Grill, LLC filed a Fifth Amendment Takings Clause suit in the District Court of the Virgin Islands.
What to watch
The Office of Cannabis Regulation’s Intoxicating Hemp Retailer License rulemaking is due April 23, 2026. Until those rules publish and the first conditional licenses issue, the halt order remains operative. The CBD legality guide tracks the three separate regulatory lanes for industrial hemp, non-intoxicating CBD, and intoxicating hemp products.