Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

‘We want to have a very responsible cannabis industry’ – Dr Wheatley

Plans to have a Cannabis Licensing Authority in the pipeline

Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) said in an attempt to have a responsible cannabis industry in the Virgin Islands, a Cannabis Licensing Authority will be created to guide the sector.

Dr Wheatley spoke of his government’s plans for medical marijuana during a live discussion on the Cannabis Licensing Bill, 2020, on Tuesday, June 23, 2020, on Facebook.

“The good thing is we have been able to learn from many persons who have legalised it already, and that’s why we are putting together this Cannabis Licensing Authority that will issue guidance in terms of how this plant will be regulated. There is the potential if we don’t regulate it properly to have problems, but we want to have a very responsible cannabis industry here in the Virgin Islands that would export and that would provide some types of benefits for persons who want to do medical tourism for instance,” he stated.

He said the Licensing Authority Board would comprise persons from the legal fraternity, medicine, law enforcement and business.


Investor to help

Dr Wheatley said, there will be an investor who will assist local farmers a great deal.

He explained: “So how it will really work is we will have someone who is an investor, who is a farmer, who has the international markets that we can export to, who can come and buy directly from our farmers. The investor will show them exactly how to grow the marijuana because when you are exporting marijuana, it is very important that you abide by the international standards and regulations.”

“I know there are persons who grow marijuana in the BVI presently, but you cannot grow it any type of way if you want to be able to export it. It has to be a very specific way; the investor will be able to teach them those methods and equip them on their farms and show them everything that they have to do from start to finish. And, the investor will buy the marijuana from them, process it, which will create jobs again, in terms of the processing, and to be able to export it to places around the world. There has been a great deal of demand for marijuana internationally,” he added.

He said already 700 acres of land ‘in the hills of Paraquita Bay’ has been made available to the government; however, only 50 acres will be used for the time being.

“Then we will evaluate the market and see if there is any room for growth.”


1000 letters!

Minister Wheatley also mentioned that persons in the Territory are really interested in this sector.

“When the Premier first announced that we will have a 100 farmers, I probably got about a 1,000 letters. So many persons indicated an interest in becoming one of those farmers. We had persons from all over the territory, Anegada, Jost van Dyke, Virgin Gorda, every district and all the District Representatives got letters and inquiries,” he remarked.

“Persons are very excited about the possibility. I don’t even know how we will choose the farmers because there will be so many applications,” he said.

The bill as introduced in the House of Assembly (HoA) has been published in the Official Gazette, and members of the public can access it for their information and feedback.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×