St. John: three conditional dispensary licenses awarded, cap filled
The Office of Cannabis Regulation published merit scores for three conditional Cannabis Dispensary Licenses on St. John on January 16, 2026, filling the island's full three-license statutory cap in a single round.
· Updated April 11, 2026
January 16, 2026. The Office of Cannabis Regulation published the merit-based scores for the first round of conditional Cannabis Dispensary License awards on St. John, and all three of the island’s statutory slots went in a single round. St. John is the only island where the conditional list fills the cap the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act sets for dispensaries under § 787 of title 19.
The awardees, in order of merit score:
- Virgin Abis, LLC, 997 of a possible 1000. Listing: Virgin Abis.
- MCCV Enterprise, LLC dba Healthy Alternatives, 900. Listing: Healthy Alternatives.
- TDD, LLC, 757. Listing: TDD.
The only cultivator on St. John is one of the dispensary awardees
TDD LLC, the St. John dispensary awardee scoring 757, also holds the only conditional Commercial Cultivation License on St. John from the October 16, 2025 cultivation round, with a cultivation score of 800. Under § 777(a)(4) of the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act, cannabis cannot move between the islands, which means every gram of legally grown St. John cannabis will come from TDD’s cultivation facility, and TDD is the only vertically integrated operator on the island. Virgin Abis and Healthy Alternatives, the other two St. John dispensary awardees, will have to source product from TDD or from their own future cultivation permits if they secure them in a later round. The five-license cultivation cap on St. John leaves four slots still open.
Two CBD transitions
Two of the three St. John awardees are existing CBD-retailer businesses transitioning into the regulated cannabis track. Virgin Abis began as the Mongoose Junction CBD storefront in Cruz Bay. MCCV Enterprise began as the Chocolate Hole wellness and CBD shop under the Healthy Alternatives name. Neither transition is automatic. Both holders must satisfy the same operational and build-out requirements as every other conditional licensee before retail cannabis sales can begin.
What “conditional” means here
The Office of Cannabis Regulation notice states plainly that conditional approval “does not authorize the sale, distribution, or operation of a cannabis dispensary. No cannabis activity may commence unless and until all additional statutory, regulatory, and operational requirements are satisfied and a final Certificate to Operate is issued by the Office of Cannabis Regulation in accordance with law.” No dispensary on this list is open yet.
The notice cites the statutory basis as “Act 8680, as amended by Act 8925.” The 1000-point scale is set in section 777-15 of the 2024 Rules.
Why St. John is scored on its own
Under § 777(a)(4) of the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act, cannabis products may not move between the islands. A conditional license in Cruz Bay authorizes nothing in Charlotte Amalie or Christiansted. Because St. John’s three-license cap is the smallest in the territory and is now full, applicants who missed the January window have no open slot to aim at on St. John until a holder surrenders, defaults, or is revoked.
What to watch
Each conditional holder must satisfy the remaining operational requirements before any retail sale can occur on St. John. Because Virgin Abis and Healthy Alternatives are also active CBD retailers, both are also subject to the freeze on intoxicating hemp inventory that took effect when Governor Bryan signed Act 9072 on January 12, 2026. The legality guide tracks territory-wide status.