Barbados: BMCLA Presses Banks After US Cannabis Rescheduling

As of April 2026, the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority has called on the country’s commercial banks to reconsider their refusal to serve cannabis businesses, citing the US Department of Justice’s April 22 rescheduling of state-licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III.

The push comes from Shanika Roberts-Odle, the BMCLA’s acting chief executive, who told Barbados Today that the US decision is “a meaningful acknowledgment of what our Rastafarian brethren and many others have articulated for generations,” and that “cannabis is a natural plant with significant medical and wellness potential.”

What Changed

Barbados legalized medicinal cannabis under the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Act, 2019 and now has two licensed therapeutic facilities (Island Therapeutics in Worthing and Island Naturals at Sheraton Mall), with at least two more working toward opening this year. But the industry’s growth has been throttled by a banking problem: local lenders say their correspondent banking partners will not accept cannabis-derived funds, leaving licensed operators largely locked out of the formal financial system.

The DOJ’s rescheduling changes the math. Medical cannabis products sold under qualifying state licences in the US are no longer in the same federal drug category as heroin. Roberts-Odle argued this should give Barbadian banks and their international partners reason to revisit their blanket refusals.

Steve Belle, chief executive of the City of Bridgetown Cooperative Credit Union, pushed back, stating that correspondent banks “typically don’t have systems in place to actually accept funds from medical marijuana.” The credit union movement, he said, could not act unilaterally.

What This Means

For travelers, the banking standoff is invisible at the point of purchase. Barbados’s medicinal cannabis centres operate and accept payment. But the lack of banking access constrains how fast the industry can scale. Fewer facilities means fewer options for visitors seeking therapeutic cannabis products on the island.

The BMCLA has issued roughly 12 licences across cultivation, manufacturing, retail, transport, security, and research. If banking access loosens, the pipeline of licensed operators waiting to open could move faster. Two new therapeutic centres are expected to become operational in 2026.

What to Watch

The DOJ’s broader rescheduling proceeding, which covers all marijuana and not just state-licensed medical products, heads to an expedited administrative hearing in late June 2026. A full Schedule III move would further erode the correspondent banking objection. Watch for whether Barbadian banks shift their stance before then, or wait for the broader US ruling. The BMCLA’s website and the country’s cannabis law overview have the latest on licensing and access.