‘CBD oil extraction is key’

In tapping the cannabis export business, the CNMI can create a sustainable model through CBD oil extraction, according to Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig.

Many skeptics have pointed out that the CNMI does not have enough people—residents and tourists alike—who can sustain a cannabis consumption industry in the CNMI, but Atalig said at the Rotary Club of Saipan meeting last Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency Saipan that the key is attracting large companies in the cannabis industry to set up shop in the Commonwealth to extract CBD oil.

“The only thing I see that can help us in this cannabis industry is to take advantage of contacting big corporations that deal with the cannabis industry,” he said.

“Invite them in to extract, to make CBD oil,” Atalig added. “There’s a lot of products being made and manufactured in Canada and the U.S. We could be in that export business using the ingredients that we can grow here legally.”

Atalig said that these corporations, if they come in, could bring big business and help residents get employed, and could even encourage people to go into biology, chemistry, or bio-medicine as fields of study.

CBD oil is a chemical compound extracted from marijuana that is promoted as having medicinal properties and is reportedly used for pain management or to address a range of medical issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, seizures, etc.

As for revenue projections, the Finance secretary has yet to make any, saying he cannot project anything until he sees revenues coming in, including the activity or the numbers of business.

“I am data driven. I see data from other states, but nothing in our scale,” Atalig said. “We are an island community so it is pretty difficult for me to use, for comparison, let’s say California, Colorado, Washington, or Oregon.”

Atalig noted that the initial projection of a million dollar revenue in California after the cannabis legalization in 2016 was not even met.

An Associated Press article reported in February 2019 stated that, according to figures released by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, the state only collected a total of $345.2 million in revenue in 2018 as a result of excise, sales and cultivation taxes imposed on the “new” marijuana industry.

“Just looking at that [California’s projection vis-a-vis actual revenue] makes me cautious, especially when we are really a fragile island economy. I do not want to put too much hopes on that until I see numbers,” Atalig said.

This comes as the newly-created Commonwealth Cannabis Commission remains busy with its March 20, 2020, deadline to come up with the regulations on the use, production, and sale of cannabis in the CNMI.