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New bill seeks to legalize marijuana for medicinal use
Rep. Stanley Torres (Ind-Saipan) will introduce today a new bill seeking to legalize marijuana for medicinal use only, the third legislation he has introduced to legalize “pot” use for medicinal and/or recreational purposes in the last few years. His previous bills were either killed by the Senate or gathered dust in committees.
“This is an updated bill, and I look forward to the governor signing it, since he has made a statement that he will support it if it’s only for medicinal purpose. We have people, especially older ones, suffering from pain and marijuana could and would be a big help to them because their medical conditions are severe and resistant to conventional medicine,” Torres told Saipan Tribune yesterday.
House Bill 17-311 or the Legalization of Medical Marijuana Act of 2012 was pre-filed on Friday.
“If you read the whole bill, you’d see that one can’t have it unless you have a prescription. It will also be taxed, helping to generate revenue for the CNMI. No more than 1 ounce of marijuana is allowed,” he said.
Torres said that based on studies, marijuana is a safe and effective treatment for dozens of conditions such as cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, migraines, glaucoma, and epilepsy.
In its five-page findings, the bill says this legislation “should not serve as a message to our youth that the Legislature condones drug abuse.”
“We do not. We simply seek to allow physicians to prescribe it if needed, and to allow patients to use marijuana without societal stigma,” it says.
The bill seeks to delete substances from 6 CMC section 2114 for the purpose of recognizing the now common and legal medicinal use of marijuana in the U.S.
Marijuana is the fourth most popular drug in the world, following alcohol, nicotine and caffeine, HB 17-311 says. It adds that recent trends in legislation indicate that the medicinal use of marijuana is becoming an acceptable practice subject to legal restrictions.
In the U.S., laws allow for medical marijuana in several jurisdictions with varying rules governing quantity of plants or usable medical marijuana.
Medicinal marijuana is legal in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C.
“By the time this legislation is enacted, more states are likely to have legalized marijuana in one form or another,” the bill says.
It also says opponents of legalization of medical marijuana maintain that marijuana is a drug that is subject to abuse and that people who abuse it can hurt themselves and others. Opponents also point to the loss of federal funds and the danger presented by people under the influence who may work among others and operate equipment with trace amounts of marijuana in their systems.
The former Department of Public Health, now Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., in commenting on a previous bill legalizing marijuana for all purposes, said the CNMI DPH may lose over $10 million in federal grants should the marijuana legalization bill becomes law.
But Torres, in his bill, said one fact remains: Seriously ill individuals who suffer from AIDS, cancer, diabetes, glaucoma, and other conditions such as arthritis, migraine, menstrual cramps, alcohol, and opiate addiction, depression, and other debilitating mood disorders cannot obtain relief from marijuana without fear of arrest and imprisonment.
He said these individuals who find marijuana to be helpful are forced to do one of two things: live and suffer without marijuana or illegally obtain it at the risk of arrest and usually at a cost that reflects its illegal status.
Torres also said marijuana abuse is not nearly as harmful to an individual or to society as addictions to alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine.
Rep. Tony Sablan (R-Saipan) said he remains opposed to any marijuana legalization bill.
“I voted no before, I will vote no again to this one. My stance has not changed. The CNMI is not ready to face the negative consequences of legalizing marijuana for any reason. My main concern is control. How could you make sure that marijuana won’t fall in the hands of our young people?” Sablan said.
Rep. Edmund Villagomez (Cov-Saipan), also one of those who voted “no” to a previous marijuana legalization bill, said he’s most likely to vote “no” again to the new bill. He, however, said he has yet to read the new bill.
Torres said the United Nations’ World Drug Report 2012 itself ranks the CNMI second on its list of countries with the highest annual rate of marijuana use, with 22.2 percent of the islands’ population having smoked “pot.” Palau ranked first with 24.2 percent, while Guam ranked third with 18.4 percent.
“We rank high in the United Nations list anyway. If you legalize marijuana for those who need it as medication, then you help not only them but also the economy,” he said.
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
