Bahamas: Cannabis Authority Misses Its Own Licensing Deadline

As of 23 July 2026, the Bahamas Cannabis Authority has missed its own target for opening licence applications, and the country’s pharmacists say they cannot reach the regulator. Chairman Dr Lynwood Brown had pointed to the end of June or early July for the launch. That window closed with the portal still shut.

Brown told the Tribune the delay came from inside the Authority, calling the Government’s approach “measure twice, cut once.” On the missed date he said only that “those issues had to be resolved first, and they took longer than we anticipated.” He gave no replacement date.

Three days earlier, the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association had put a blunter version on the record. President Dr Marvin Smith, who met Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Michael Darville and Minister of State for Health Owen Wells, told the paper the regulator has no visible presence at all. “They don’t have a building identified yet. There’s no phone contact with them yet,” he said. “As pharmacists and pharmacy owners, we’re not hearing anything officially, and when you try to contact the Authority, there’s no one to contact.”

That sits awkwardly beside what Brown said in April, when he told the Nassau Guardian the Authority’s office had been paid for and taken possession of, with furnishing to follow the general election. CannaCarib covered that at the time, when the platform was finished and the portal was waiting on a new government. The election has since come and gone. Philip Davis and the Progressive Liberal Party returned to office on 12 May. The portal has not opened.

Brown did set out how the process will run once it does. Applicants pick a licence category, either personal medical use or a commercial class such as cultivator, manufacturer, or dispensary, then work through the documentation. Compliance officers run a first review and flag deficiencies, applications are vetted with law enforcement and other agencies, and the board approves, denies, or asks for more. Pharmacies can take part, but each needs its own Cannabis Authority licence and a dispensary area physically separated from the rest of the shop. “No one will be allowed to operate a dispensary in the absence of a licensed, registered pharmacist,” Brown said.

What This Means

If you are travelling to Nassau, Freeport, or the Out Islands this summer, nothing has changed and nothing is close to changing. Cannabis remains a criminal offence in the Bahamas under the Dangerous Drugs Act, and enforcement at the cruise port and at Lynden Pindling International is active. The Cannabis Bill 2024 framework, which would decriminalise possession of up to 30 grams and open medical, religious, and scientific access, is the thing waiting on this regulator to stand itself up. Until the portal opens, none of it reaches a visitor.

The people it lands on now are Bahamian pharmacists and prospective operators. Licences are closed to non-Bahamian nationals and companies outside testing and manufacturing, so the queue Smith is worried about is a domestic one. He said he was assured Bahamians would be “at the front of the line” once licensing opens. At present there is no line.

What to Watch

Two markers are worth tracking before the next target date. The first is whether the Authority publishes a physical address and a working phone number, which is the exact gap the pharmacists named. The second is whether the portal opens before the end of 2026, the timeline Brown offered in earlier reporting. A regulator that cannot be telephoned is not yet processing applications.