“We spent the last week and a half talking to several groups and individuals, and our assessment is there is growing support for medical marijuana,” Respicio told Variety on Friday.
Respicio, a Democrat, said he has received an e-mail from a University of Guam student, who suffers from a genetic disorder, that his doctor said could be cured by cannabis.
The senator said he has been reviewing similar proposals in California and Hawaii’ to understand how they can apply on Guam. “Under the medical marijuana scenario (in California), when a doctor prescribes cannabis, someone has to fill it,” Respicio said. “So they had to have licenses for growers and then have a farmers’ [cooperative] developed. So, if we want to replicate that on Guam, we are going to have to figure out all the ins and outs of how we can make something like that work here.”
Respicio’s team is also working on how to navigate the federal prohibition of marijuana.
The senator pointed out that the U.S. attorney general and President Obama himself have gone on public record saying they will not go after doctors, patients and others involved in the medical field in states that allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
Respicio said he had a “very successful” meeting with Guam Medical Association president, Dr. Thomas Shieh, who promised to bring this issue up to the membership of GMA. “He said he would not support the use of marijuana for recreational pleasures, but he may support it for medical reasons if it is tightly controlled and regulated,” said Respicio.
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