Saint Lucia has not yet fully launched a legal cannabis industry, but the groundwork is actively being laid. As the island moves closer to full regulation, authorities are taking deliberate steps to ensure that when the industry does take off, it benefits Saint Lucians first.
One major step in that direction is the creation of a Central Trading Entity (CTE), established under the guidance of the Regulatory Substance Authority (RSA) – the body responsible for developing and implementing cannabis-related legislation on the island.
RSA CEO Dylan Norbet-Inglis, speaking at the recently held Helen’s Daughters Unconference on Agriculture, said the CTE is designed to maintain high-quality standards, support local producers, and ensure that a share of the industry’s profits stay within the country.
“So, our legislation is the only legislation in the region that speaks to a central trading entity. The CTE …really mandates that any entity who is cultivating cannabis in Saint Lucia must either sell that cannabis to the central trading entity, or must pay the central trading entity royalties for having cultivated the cannabis in Saint Lucia. The interesting thing about our CTE is that you must have an ownership stake of at least 30 per cent.”
Once established, the cannabis industry will require producers to meet strict standards ensuring proper labelling, traceability, and compliance. These requirements are not cheap, and without support, many local farmers could be priced out. Recognising this, the RSA has worked to create a system that will not exclude those who have historically been part of the cannabis trade, especially those without the financial means to operate legally on their own.
The RSA also designed the Central Trading Entity to offer an ownership opportunity, giving legacy cannabis cultivators a real stake in the future legal industry, even if they can’t afford to set up a standalone business themselves.
“What that allows these legacy operators to do is to say, the cost of getting into the industry as a legal player is too much. I may need to have fencing, I may need to have other means of security. That’s going to be too expensive for me. But because I received an amnesty, and because my country recognises me as a legacy operator, the CTE must get 30 like me to buy shares. And when I now own shares in this company, every single plant propagated in St. Lucia, I now get dividends from, even though I’m no longer selling cannabis, even though I’m no longer cultivating.” Norbet-Inglis explained.
He also advised potential entrants into the sector to think beyond just cultivation. While many express interest in growing cannabis, the RSA encourages agri-entrepreneurs to explore the full range of roles required in a functioning cannabis market.
“Every time we hear someone saying, I have land to grow, we say, ‘What, there’s so much more that you could get involved in.’ Everybody can’t become a cultivator. That just won’t work. There needs to be dispensaries, there needs to be persons who do transportation of the product, there needs to be persons who process the product into the finished product. So, the regulations speak to all of these.”
Saint Lucia has already taken some major steps toward cannabis law reform. In 2021, the government decriminalised the possession of up to 30 grams of cannabis and allowed households to cultivate up to four plants. However, the possession of larger amounts, distribution, and trafficking remain illegal and punishable under current law.
