The Medicinal Cannabis Industry Act 2018 allows for qualifying persons under the Act to be issued licences to cultivate, import, export, possess, produce and use cannabis in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) for medicinal and research purposes only. Cannabis (also called marijuana or ganja) has been decriminalised only for medicinal and religious use. Unlike Jamaica, the use of Cannabis for recreational purposes in SVG is still illegal.
The regulation of this new industry in SVG is heavily risk-based. Applicants are tediously scrutinised and are required to adhere to the Standards and Compliance Regulations 2019. Licencees are required to have a security clearance to deal with cannabis. There are strict regulations dealing with the general operation of medicinal cannabis farms, transportation of medicinal cannabis, and production and process control. The premises of a commercial medicinal cannabis operation must have sufficient odour absorbing ventilation and exhaust systems, expansive security and alarm systems, and copious, specific record keeping practices. Doctors and patients who will use Cannabis as medicine are required to have special identification cards. The Cannabis Industry is regulated by the Medicinal Cannabis Authority.
An individual, a company or a co-operative society registered under the Co-operative Societies Act or the Building Societies Act may apply for a licence. An application may be made for any or all of the the following licences: cultivation licence, manufacturing licence, dispensing licence, import licence, export licence, research licence, transport licence, traditional cultivator’s licence (we will examine the traditional cultivator’s licence in another article).
The current laws seek to incorporate local participation in the Industry by making it mandatory for individual applicants to be citizens of the country or ordinary residents in SVG at least three (3) years prior to making their application. Companies must be locally incorporated. Local trade mark protection is available for cannabis trade marks. 
SVG is the largest producer and distributor of cannabis in the OECS.