HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — It appears Pacific Analytical Services, the business attempting to become a testing facility for cannabis products on Guam, is experiencing difficulty finding a place to set up operations.
According to discussions at Monday’s meeting of the Cannabis Control Board, the company is looking for a facility to accommodate a certain type of filtering system for its laboratory equipment. While Pacific Analytical Services had a facility in mind, it was noncompliant with the requirement to be outside drug-free zones, leaving the company to look for another facility, discussions stated.
Cannabis use has been legal on Guam for some time now, but the advent of a commercial industry has been a slow, meandering affair.
No cannabis or cannabis products can be sold without being tested for potency and safety by a testing facility licensed by the Department of Public Health and Social Services, per industry rules and regulations. Simply put, without a testing facility, there can be no cannabis industry on Guam.
But that isn’t to say there isn’t any interest, as about a dozen entities are looking to become part of that industry, based on applications for responsible official identification cards for these proposed businesses, which is just one step to obtaining a cannabis business license.
The next step is to obtain a cannabis establishment license, but other than one business looking to become a cultivation facility, there are no pending applications for this part of the process.
Discussions Monday indicated that, like the testing facility, other cannabis-related entities are concerned with finding usable property for their establishments in line with drug-free zone requirements. And many are not committing to lease agreements until the testing facility applies for a cannabis establishment license and goes to the CCB for approval, according to Monday’s discussion.
Also, according to that discussion, it doesn’t appear that schools are the issue with the drug-free zone requirements. It’s more about finding places that comply with distancing requirements for bus stops.
“Part of the drug-free zone also in the cannabis law is 250 (feet) from a bus stop. … Can you imagine six retail (responsible officials) shopping with their property managers, and they’re overlapping each other?” an official with the Department of Revenue and Taxation said at Monday’s meeting.
Greenland Farms Inc. is the proposed cultivation business that, so far, is the only applicant attempting to move on to the cannabis establishment license step. The company isn’t ready to request board approval for the cannabis establishment license, as it awaits clearance from the Guam Waterworks Authority, according to Monday’s discussion.
A cannabis flower is pictured in Inalåhan in October 2021.
