Senator Joseph cites Act 9072 hemp law as a first-term win

June 16, 2026. Senator Clifford Joseph listed his hemp regulation bill among his first-term legislative wins in an interview published by the Virgin Islands Consortium, five months after Governor Albert Bryan Jr. signed it as Act 9072 and four months after a federal court blocked the law’s inventory-surrender mechanism.

Joseph identified the measure by its bill number, 36-0105. Act 9072 took effect on January 23, 2026. It prohibits the sale, possession, or manufacture of intoxicating hemp products without a license and creates an 11th category on the title 19 chapter 34 license list for an Intoxicating Hemp/Artificially Derived Cannabinoid Retailer.

Asked about the bill’s effect on retail availability, Joseph told the Consortium: “I shouldn’t be seeing any more any hemp product or any green leaves or whatever, selling at gas station and convenience store.”

Where the law actually stands

The retail prohibition remains in force. Section 1 of Act 9072 keeps the sale and manufacture of delta-6, delta-8, delta-10, and THCA products off-limits to anyone without an Office of Cannabis Regulation license. No Intoxicating Hemp Retailer License has yet been issued.

The mechanism the bill provided for existing inventory is currently blocked. On February 25, 2026, Chief Judge Robert Molloy of the District Court of the Virgin Islands issued a Temporary Restraining Order halting enforcement of the Section 3 surrender requirement against Homegrown Bar & Grill, LLC “or any other licensed hemp retailer.” That order followed the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs’ February 17 halt order putting Section 3 into operation. The District Court rescheduled the preliminary-injunction hearing from March 11 to April 1, 2026, and a ruling extending or dissolving the TRO has not been reported by the Virgin Islands Consortium’s legal section as of mid-June.

The Office of Cannabis Regulation’s 90-day rulemaking clock for the Intoxicating Hemp Retailer License, which Executive Director Joanne Moorehead said at the February 12 Cannabis Advisory Board meeting runs through April 23, 2026, has now lapsed. OCR has not published a final rule for the license category or opened an application window.

What Joseph framed alongside the hemp bill

In the same interview, Joseph also pointed to:

• Bill 36-0063, the measure closing the gross receipts tax exemption for off-island contractors performing work for the Government of the Virgin Islands
• The LBJ Gardens relocation effort, where he said he is pursuing resident compensation based on replacement costs and legal-aid funding for probate and title resolution

On public safety, Joseph told the Consortium he would “have to wait until I hear from somebody from the Women’s Coalition” before assessing crime, reckless driving, or domestic violence trends.

What to watch

Two procedural questions on Act 9072 are still open. First, whether the Temporary Restraining Order on Section 3 was extended into a preliminary injunction at the April 1 hearing. The docket update has not been reported locally. Second, whether the Office of Cannabis Regulation publishes a final Intoxicating Hemp Retailer License rule and opens an application window. The April 23 deadline OCR’s executive director cited in February has now passed without a public rule. The CBD legality guide tracks both threads.