Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has started its long-awaited cannabis cultivation amnesty program, a major move to pivot cultivators of illicit cannabis into the legal industry.
The amnesty program, which came into effect March 3, will allow individuals, who would otherwise face convictions for the illegal cultivation of cannabis under current law, to “surrender their crop or harvest upon the issuance of a traditional cultivation license.”
The bill that created the program, known as the Cannabis Cultivation (Amnesty) Bill, was passed by the House of Assembly in December 2018, as part of a package of legislation that legalized medical cannabis, and the program’s launch was announced by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on March 2. As written, the law must be reauthorized by the House of Assembly after one year.
The amnesty arrives at the same time as another major cannabis reform in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines—a decision by the government to grant permission for licensed cultivators to open bank accounts with the majority state-owned Bank of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. (Cultivators are named specifically because much of the other activity, from processing to distribution, will be overseen by the government.)
The bank accounts will allow holders to directly accept investments from, and complete financial transactions with, legal entities from countries with established cannabis industries, Jerrol Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of the country’s Medicinal Cannabis Authority, told licensees in February.
“Banking is an important pillar of building a sustainable industry,” Thompson said at the licensees’ gathering. “We are the only Caribbean island that has been able to establish a firm basis in terms of banking, which would allow licensees to move money and do business legitimately, between Canada, Europe, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.”
However, United States banking regulations still loom large for the nation: Because cannabis is federally illegal in the US, it is risky for financial institutions in other countries to work with cannabis companies for fear of jeopardizing banking relationships in the United States.
Still, Thompson said, the Bank of Saint Vincent’s willingness to absorb the risks is a significant step for the regional cannabis industry where many islands across the Caribbean are looking to cash in on global developments in the industry.
