GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios’ nominee to the CNMI Cannabis Commission said the “ambiguous” language in the Taulamwarr Sensible CNMI Cannabis Act of 2018 or Public Law 20-66 is the “fuel the black market thrives on.
Jose B. Palacios appeared before the Judiciary and Governmental Operations Committee of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation in the Senate chamber on Monday. His nomination is subject to the delegation’s advice and consent.
Palacios, who is originally from Saipan, has an extensive law enforcement background as a Guam Police Department officer and deputy director of the Guam Department of Corrections. He has also served under numerous other public safety capacities, and is a U.S. Army veteran.
Palacios said if confirmed as a commissioner, his priorities would including modifying the language of the law to clear up its ambiguity.
Palacios cited as an example Section 108, Subsection (l) which authorizes the CNMI Cannabis Commission to regulate and prohibit marijuana advertising in newspapers, letters, billboards, radio, and other mediums.
“If no one knows where the legal dispensaries are, and what the products are, then it’s easy to go to…Kagman and get [marijuana] from [there],” Palacios said.
He told legislators that rewriting policy would support industry growth.
“The way to incentivize [invested stakeholders] would be to rewrite policy and the law,” he added.
Palacios said California has a legal cannabis industry that is worth around $8 billion, but “over taxation” and “over regulation” created a black market whose dealers do not follow the state’s marijuana policies. Palacios said California’s marijuana black market is also valued at approximately $8 billion.
“That’s the black market. That’s money not being taxed,” Palacios added.
He said he is willing to collaborate with invested stakeholders and the Legislature in amending current law.
“This is an industry that has proven to be very viable, [but is] lacking…a clear direction. And that clear direction can only be established through guidance and wisdom from this honorable body with direct input from stakeholders,” he said.
CNMI Cannabis Commission nominee Jose B. Palacios, right, with the governor’s special assistant for administration, Oscar M. Babauta, center, and Rep. BJ Attao in the Senate chamber on Monday.
