By Nestor Licanto
For Variety
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Yet another piece of legislation has been introduced meant to kick-start the launch of the cannabis industry on Guam.
Bill 254-38 by Sen. Sabrina Salas Matanane would remove most cannabis-specific agricultural requirements in current law, which it states are “more burdensome than those for general agriculture.”
According to the bill, the Guam Cannabis Industry Act of 2019, or Public Law 35-5, which legalized adult-use cannabis, also established specific and novel agricultural mandates exclusively for cannabis cultivation “that diverge significantly from the established practices and legal requirements governing general agriculture on the island.”
Reducing regulatory complexity will lower compliance costs for cultivators and encourage greater participation by local farmers in the cannabis industry, according to the bill.
The legislation follows another bill, 245-38 by Sen. Telo Taitague, which would extend the exemption on the requirement to have a cannabis testing laboratory in place to sell products.
Taitague’s measure would extend the exemption for another five years, or until a lab that meets required accreditation standards is established.
Taitague also held a roundtable discussion on Thursday about the challenges faced by the cannabis industry. Since recreational cannabis was legalized in 2019, not a single business is licensed and operational for legal cannabis retail sales.
The Department of Revenue and Taxation said there have been 15 applicants for a cannabis license over the years, but only two remain active. “It’s been slow; no one’s near completion,” said DRT Director Marie Lizama.
Several industry representatives testified about how the regulatory hurdles have stifled businesses.
Longtime cannabis advocate and medicinal marijuana patient Jonathan Savares said, “These agriculture regulations that you guys are putting in place is not consistent. These regulatory hurdles that are put in place is making it so difficult and so costly that the businesses are going to struggle to survive.”
Stephen Roberto, whose company Guam’s Real Deal has spent the last three years working on a cultivation license, said, “It’s been difficult, but not impossible. I think the difficulties lie in the fact that there’s been a lot of slow walking, for whatever reason.”
Bill 254-38 cites the Department of Agriculture’s expertise to oversee agricultural processes and can use its existing framework for bona fide farmer certification, agricultural land use, and compliance with environmental standards to also regulate cannabis cultivation “without the need for cannabis-specific agricultural mandates that exceed those applied to other agricultural commodities.”
It said other jurisdictions have also found it necessary to refine their initial cannabis regulations to support their local industries. “Aligning the agricultural requirements for cannabis with those for other crops promotes regulatory parity, ensures fairness, and treats cannabis as the agricultural commodity it is under Guam law,” the bill states.
