Respicio, a Democrat, said he is in the process of drafting a pertinent bill patterned after California’s proposition to legalize marijuana and regulate it much like alcohol.
“It is ripe to have a discussion now with what is happening in California and Saipan,” Respicio said.
California’s proposition was put on the agenda last week for a vote by the public in November. On Saipan, Rep. Stanley T. Torres has introduced a bill to legalize marijuana.
“I have always been supportive of legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes,” Respicio said.
He said the issue of legalizing marijuana has merit and he will continue to proceed with extreme caution. “We are reviewing the California proposition and Oregon’s statute to see what may work best for Guam,” Respicio said.
Reaching out
In order to develop the most appropriate legislation, Respicio said he was reaching to medical professionals, law enforcement officials, and the general public to make sure his legislation is guided by the different interests in the community.
He said he would either propose “outright implementation” or calling a “referendum.”
“But I am inclined to calling for its outright legalization, after a series of public hearings of course,” Respicio said.
Marijuana is illegal even for medicinal purposes on Guam. Depending on the amount a person has, it could either be an infraction with a fine, a misdemeanor, or a felony. Less than an ounce is only an infraction carrying a $100 fine.
Attorney Randy Cunliffe, a former Democratic senator, told Variety in an earlier interview that Guam was one of the first jurisdictions in the U.S. to decriminalize less than an ounce for personal use.
California prop
Under the California proposition, minors under the age of 21 would not be allowed to possess marijuana and people would not be allowed to smoke it in public. It would also limit the number of plants per person to 10.
California introduced this as a response to a budgetary crisis in hopes of taxing marijuana. Experts have estimated the revenues yearly to be in the billions of dollars. Doctors advocate for the medicinal use of marijuana while other advocates say that much like the prohibition of alcohol, the prohibition of marijuana has not worked and only put honest, responsible adults who like to smoke marijuana in the same world and category as hardened criminals and hard drug abusers.
Critics of the California initiative warned that marijuana is “a gateway drug” and “harmful to people’s health.”
“Not only doctors, but economists are weighing in on the issue,” said Respicio. “They are saying that you can create a whole industry and tax it.”
