In a letter to House Committee on Health and Welfare Chairman Sylvester I. Iguel, Covenant-Saipan, chamber president Doug Brennan noted the bill’s title, “To legalize medicinal marijuana by amending 6 CMC Section 2144 subsections (c)(13) and (20) to allow for the re-scheduling of marijuana; amend 6 CMC Section 2122 by adding a new subsection (f); and for other purposes.”
According to Brennan, “It is the ‘and for other purposes’ that causes [the chamber] the greatest concern.”
He said the chamber has expressed opposition to the legalization of marijuana, or medicinal marijuana and the use of any and all legislation that would provide residents with greater access to marijuana.
“Marijuana is against the law in the CNMI, and the chamber believes it should stay that way,” he added.
He said the chamber “does not support the belief that there are special groups of people that would benefit from easier and legal access to marijuana, in this case by medical prescription.”
“The belief that the legalization of marijuana is a means to economic prosperity in the CNMI is equally refused by the chamber,” he added.
He said based on reports regarding the 17 U.S. jurisdictions that allow medicinal marijuana, doctors have become “convenient conduits for recreational marijuana.”
He added, “The chamber believes this would be no different in the CNMI.”
Rep. Stanley Torres, Ind.-Saipan, introduced House Bill 17-213.
