Medical patients still waiting for legal access to cannabis

The V.I. Cannabis Advisory Board is still working to set up the infrastructure necessary to begin regulating legal cannabis cultivation and sales, leaving medical marijuana patients to wait indefinitely for access to the drug.

“My number one frustration is just the length of time it’s taken. I know they want to get things right, but I don’t have a sense of things being expedited as they should be, and we’re all losing out,” said retired St. John resident Beverly Lockett. The government is losing out on revenue from gross receipts taxes, “consumers are losing out, and store owners are losing out,” Lockett said.

A breast cancer survivor, Lockett registered as a medicinal cannabis patient in the state of Florida while receiving treatment for seven months. That enabled her to purchase and use Rick Simpson Oil, or “RSO,” a concentrate named for its creator. RSO is popular among cancer patients and others with chronic illness, and “I know for me, it helps me sleep,” Lockett said.