THE cannabis industry has so far created 32 jobs and brought in up to $171,978 in monthly gross revenue (not taxes as earlier reported), the CNMI Cannabis Commission told a House panel.
The commission’s managing director, Monique Sablan, made a presentation during a meeting with the House Cannabis Committee Tuesday. With her were Commission Chairwoman Nadine Deleon Guerrero, vice chairman Matt Deleon Guerrero and treasurer Valentino Taisakan.
Because the committee’s chair, Rep. Denita Yangetmai, was on medical leave, it was Rep. Celina Babauta who facilitated the meeting that started at 10 a.m. in the House chamber. Also present were Reps. Joel Camacho, Leila Staffler, Corina Magofna and Vicente Camacho.
Sablan began the presentation by informing the committee what the cannabis industry has gone through since the enactment in Sept. 2018 of Public Law 20-66 or the Taulamwar Sensible CNMI Cannabis Act of 2018 which legalizes medicinal and recreational marijuana in the Commonwealth.
She said it was on Aug. 4, 2020 when the commission started accepting applications for commercial and non-commercial licenses online.
In the following month, she said the commission received about 10 applications.
To date, the CNMI cannabis industry has created a total of 17 jobs in marijuana production operated by five different licensees namely, T-Marianas, Saipan Select, CanaMarianas, Max Farms and Primo Farms 670. The job positions include farm assistant, grower, head grower, grower assistant, production manager, assistant production manager and cannabis technician. Their annual salaries range from $6,864 to $41,000.
The total annual salaries “going to people’s pocket” in the cannabis industry is $379,964, Sablan said.
On the retail side, 15 jobs were created, she added. These include retailer sales associate, operations manager, security guard, bud tender, store manager, retail operations director and retail manager. Their annual salaries range from $6,630 to $30,000.
The total salaries paid by the cannabis retail businesses is $203,546.
Sablan said it was in July last year when they began to see how much money the licensees were able to make.
She shared the business gross revenue tax information that the commission obtained from the Division of Revenue and Taxation.
The data indicated that there was steady growth in commercial cannabis revenue, except in the months of September and October 2021, she said.
In July 2021, the gross revenue reported from cannabis was $81,465.44; in August it was $143,159.49; in September, $76,269.92; in October, $64,151.02; in November, $118,765.78; and in December, $171,978.78.
Sablan said “we’ve only really seen the industry grow in terms of money since July.”
She looks forward for an opportunity to present a progress report that will the cover the period up to July 2022.
She believes the commission will report “better numbers,” adding that the figures she presented Tuesday were based on six-month information and data, “which I think is not that bad but I think there is so much more information to gain if we will just have a little bit more time to see this growth truly happen.”
Sablan thanked the committee for giving them the opportunity to present the progress of the cannabis industry in the CNMI. “We are more than happy to come back and provide more information,” she added.
CNMI Cannabis Commission Managing Director Monique Sablan, left, speaks during a meeting with the House Committee on Cannabis in the House chamber on Tuesday. Also in photo are Reps. Leila Staffler and Corina Magofna, commission vice chairman Matt Deleon Guerrero, back to the camera, House legal counsel Joe Taijeron, and Legislative Bureau IT manager Jon Diaz.
