CNMI dead last for change

We just had an election that proved my prediction that a majority of voters want new leadership and change. But the CNMI still dead last in too many categories of economic quality and prosperity and now Guam has even eclipsed the CNMI again with the legalization of medical marijuana. If the governor or Ralph were smart they would piggy-back Guam’s marijuana law and get an executive order out today allowing CNMI doctors to write marijuana prescriptions and allow residents to fill them from Guam via our pharmacy but Inos doesn’t think we are ready yet. I don’t think any of the candidates know how many people really want to see pot legalized and there are a lot of voters! I had written a comprehensive draft for legalization before the election but I was not able to get any candidate to endorse and we all know why—they were scared!

We can see what Inos has accomplished by stepping out on the casino and leading even though he was dead wrong, violating the Democratic principles of governing by the people. He is short of being a man of principles and almost won and could still win in the runoff if enough voters are gullible and weak to their own desire for new leadership. But what did Inos say about change when asked to consider a ferry system that everyone knows we need? He said we are not ready for that yet and killed it. When he was asked about the legalization of marijuana, he said we are not ready for that yet and killed that. When asked about the CW transition, he said in so many words we are not ready for that yet. The only thing Inos thought we were ready for was the casino but after 10 years of politicking for a casino he still doesn’t have a place to build it—it looks like Inos was not ready yet. The funny part for me and the ridiculous part for voters is that people were never asked about any of these things the governor said we are not ready for yet!

We the people can’t continue to allow our governor to dictate what we are or are not ready for on major issues, that is a job for the people he works for and if we don’t elect Heinz we will still have a dictator for a governor while the rest of the world continues to leave us in their economic wake, especially on the issue of wages and marijuana legalization. FYI readers, the marijuana industry is the ideal industry to generate business revenues to increase wages and there are many young locals leaving for Washington State because it is legal. We are already losing one of our most precious resources from being dead last to change. In fact, I took a personal survey in Portland at the baseball tournament and Washington State may have the highest number of locals now and it happened almost overnight sparked by legalization.

So whoever wins the governor’s seat can look for me to come knocking again for the people who want to see marijuana legalized. At least with pot I know I will be appreciated and highly supported throughout the CNMI! The marijuana issue is a perfect example of why we need to apply the sciences in our government and less politics: The law I will propose is for a three-year moratorium on marijuana laws to be replaced by substitute laws that will allow the CNMI to experiment with all aspects of legalization. At the end of the third year, the people will be able to vote on the legalization issue based on their own pragmatic observation without the influence of politics. This approach will help us to move faster and prevent legalization from being a political issue and becoming the true social experiment that it should be.

The proposed law will also mandate all sales of marijuana and products with marijuana to be a state operation run by the CNMI government. Private citizens will have limits to the number of plants and there will be restrictions for proximity to schools and accessibility as you can’t just plant pot on your front lawn—yet. There is also a safety net if the people think things are getting out of hand with the moratorium as it can be terminated by the governor just as easily as it was created. However, a government operation is the best, safest, and most controlled approach to legalization. The moratorium period can easily make hundreds of millions in the three-year span for the CNMI and save the CNMI a lot of time and unnecessary political headaches as we know that it is just a matter of time anyway before we have to consider legalization—so why wait until we have to because that is what has gotten us last Place in America for wages, good jobs, and economic growth.

I don’t know what either candidate for governor will do on legalization but the results in Guam is a clear indicator that our next governor needs to get busy legalizing marijuana or we will be dead last as the majority of states in America have now legalized marijuana or is planning to legalize it in one form or another. I will be working to bring the CNMI a billion dollar industry that is already established in the states and I’m sure the next governor is going to have a hard time telling me and the many silent ones that we are not ready for that yet.

Ambrose M Bennett
Kagman, Saipan