Now their licensing program is in and they have a deal with Metrc – she’s stepping down. Is she moving into consultancy or spending more time with her OBYN practice?
The Cannabis Advisory Board held its monthly meeting Wednesday, covering various updates. During the session, Chair Dr. Catherine Kean, who has served in the role for four years, invited fellow board members to submit nominations for board positions.
In addition to the chairperson role, the newly created position of vice chair and the secretary position, previously held by Nicole Craigwell-Syms, were also up for nomination.
Kean shared that based on her experience, “I interface directly with the executive director regularly. Because this is a new and growing industry it is taking a lot of interface time to move into the position where we currently are which is basically getting ready to launch. The chair and the vice chair positions really need to be dedicated to the executive director and the board.”
After asking if she would be willing to continue serving in the chair position by board member Chris Jones, Kean said she would be willing to take the position of vice chair.
The board currently has seven members, with four additional positions open. Two of these vacancies require nomination by the governor and approval by the Legislature, while the other two are designated for groups affiliated with the University of the Virgin Islands.
“In order to not stagnate the work of the board I think it would behoove us to fill these officer positions until a future date,” said Office of Cannabis Regulation Executive Director Joanne Moorehead. The board agreed to postpone nominations until the next meeting to allow time for better organization.
During the meeting, it was mentioned that a contract was in place between the government of the Virgin Islands and Metrc for the seed-to-sale inventory tracking system required by the Virgin Islands Cannabis Use Act (Act 8680).
“It has taken a lot longer than we expected, but it is finally completed, and the contract has been executed. We have kick off and training meetings scheduled this month with Metrc,” confirmed Moorehead.
Moorehead also noted that the process will take time to get underway as further development is needed with Metrc, a cannabis compliance tracking system.
Moorehead also mentioned that the Office of Cannabis Regulation officially has an enforcement team fully staffed. “They will all be fully onboarded by the end of February. We have a fully staffed unit for St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix,” she said.
The enforcement staff must complete training before beginning their duties. Once trained, they will assist with the application process, ensure compliance for registered and authorized growers, and lead cannabis enforcement efforts.
The Office of Cannabis Regulation is still not accepting business applications for registration. Initially, they planned to use the GVI Buy’s website for this process but determined it wasn’t a good fit. As a result, they are now pursuing an alternative plan. Moorehead remains hopeful that the application goal will be met by the first quarter. In the meantime, they will be issuing requests for proposals (RFP) for lab testing facilities on each island.
Finally, updates were given on registered medical patients, caregivers, practitioners, and sacramental organizations. Currently, three medical practitioners are registered on St. Thomas and four on St. Croix. There are 10 registered patients on St. Croix, but none on St. Thomas or St. John. Additionally, no sacramental users are registered on any of the islands.
To register as a practitioner, patient or sacramental user, visit the Office of Cannabis Regulation website. at https://ocr.vi.gov/. Registered practitioners can also be viewed in the system.
Cannabis Advisory Board members present were chair Catherine Kean, Nathalie Hodge, Justa Encarnacion, Louis Petersen, Gary Jett, and Chris Jones.
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