Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind.-Rota, and Sen. Ralph DLG. Torres, R-Saipan, believe that there are still other achievable means to generate revenue “before resorting to exotic ideas like marijuana.”
Manglona said there are many problems that need to be addressed first.
“What about the people out there that are having a 16-hour cut every pay period? What about the people who cannot pay their power bills? What about the people who are facing foreclosure because they cannot pay mortgage?
What about the people who cannot make ends meet and cannot bring food to the table? What about all those people? Don’t we have better things to work on? Does the House have any priority that it can work with the Senate?” Manglona said.
He said the Senate doesn’t have any time for bills that don’t “address the most critical issues” facing the people of the CNMI.
During a session on Rota attended by junior and high school students, the Senate on Friday rejected House Bill 17-47 which proposed to legalize marijuana cultivation, use and sale for people at least 21 years old.
For his part, Torres said the Legislature should focus more on the enforcement of current tax laws in addressing revenue shortfalls.
There are a lot of regulations that need to be fixed, he said, adding that the government should focus on imposing heavier penalties on those caught selling tobacco and alcohol to minors.
“We should focus on protecting our community rather than legalizing marijuana even for medicinal purposes,” Torres said.
There are other medications that have the same medicinal properties that marijuana supposedly has, he said.
