HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A summit meant to help drum up interest in Guam’s slow-to-start cannabis industry may be postponed in the wake of Typhoon Mawar, according to discussion at a Cannabis Control Board meeting held Monday.
Cannabis Control Board members early this year started planning for a summit in August meant to be a primer course akin to “Cannabis 101.”
It has less to do with the plant and more to do with how to get one’s foot in the door of the cannabis industry, apply for licensure, and comply with the law, board member and Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center Director Theresa Arriola said Monday.
But in the wake of the typhoon and with limited interest in planning for the summit, Arriola recommended it be pushed to next spring. A final decision hasn’t been made, with board members opting to discuss their options more before moving forward.
13 ‘responsible officials’
Adult-use cannabis was legalized on Guam in 2019, but the establishment of a legitimate industry has been slow going.
The Department of Revenue and Taxation began accepting applications for cannabis identification cards for government-recognized “responsible officials” in August 2022, but just 13 have been approved so far.
It’s just the first step toward actually opening a cannabis business, and only one organization, Greenland Farms LLC, has taken the next step of applying for a “cannabis establishment license.” The license, which was for a cultivation facility, was still awaiting approval from local utilities as of Monday’s Cannabis Control Board meeting.
A testing facility, required by law before cannabis can be sold on Guam, is still nowhere on the horizon.
Interested cannabis businesspeople have criticized the heavy regulations, and the board itself has weighed revisions to the industry rules and regulations. In the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, where adult-use cannabis was legalized in 2018, the first cannabis retail store opened in 2021, Post files show.
As for an industry summit, the Cannabis Control Board, by law, is required to host an annual industry summit with regulatory agencies including the Guam Department of Agriculture and the Guam Police Department, as well as private sector stakeholders. It’s meant to be a review of local regulations.
Dafne Mansapit-Shimizu, director of the Department of Revenue and Taxation, said Monday that with no industry in place yet, the cannabis summit has been put on hold in previous years.
Arriola said recent plans for the summit were more about getting the community aware of “how to, if they’re interested, to get into the cannabis business responsibly.”
But there was little interest in attending a planning meeting for the summit last week, she said. Typhoon Mawar also put the brakes on meetings for about two months.
Board Chair Vanessa Williams asked that members discuss all possibilities before setting a definite postponement to next year.
She said there was a need to dispel “misinformation” circulating in the public and to be more collaborative with those interested in getting into the fledgling cannabis business.
“As much as I proposed for a postponement, to maybe spring of next year, it is very possible that we can pull something together before December,” Arriola said.
“However, as you know, November (and) December are not very good,” she added, referencing the holidays celebrated during those months.
New cannabis application
The total number of cannabis applications sent to DRT is now at 14, according to Monday’s meeting. Mansapit-Shimizu reported Ron Su has applied for a “responsible official” cannabis ID, on behalf of Herbal Science LLC.
Su previously submitted an application and then withdrew it due to the lack of a cannabis testing facility. His new application was approved unanimously by the board.
Gateway Guam, which sells hemp products, is shown Monday, July 24, 2023, in Chalan Pago. The local government is weighing a postponement of a planned cannabis industry event until next year.
