Marijuana hearing continues; public voices same concerns

A public hearing on the proposed medical marijuana bill on Tuesday night at the House chamber on Capital Hill drew a smaller number of comments but many were essentially similar to the ones submitted Friday last week.

The hearing for Senate Bill 19-06, which seeks to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana in the Commonwealth, was the second to be held on Saipan, with two more public hearings to be held on Tinian on April 29 and April 30.

Sen. Sixto Igisomar (R-Saipan), who introduced S.B. 19-06, said there were about 20 participants in the hearing and about five or six comments.

The questions were also essentially the same.

The hearing was shorter than the previous public forum but it was a tad more interesting, largely because of a “lively” discussion between lawmakers and recreational marijuana use advocate Ambrose Bennett.

Sen. Arnold Palacios (R-Saipan) said he had to request the committee head to cut short Bennett’s comments because he was already ranting and has exceeded his time allocation.

Bennett has been very vocal about supporting marijuana legalization, not just for medicinal but recreational purposes.

Palacios said Bennett may have crossed a line by overextending his allotted time and the contents of his comments, most of which were directed to the legislators.

Igisomar described Bennett’s comments as “harsh.”

Prior to the Saipan hearings, the senator requested the public to focus their comments on the medicinal use of marijuana, because this is what S.B. 19-06 is about.

Friday hearing

The first hearing on the proposed bill was held Friday, with most of the attendees favoring the proposed legislation.

The public hearing, held at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe, drew a sizable crowd, and most of the testimonies favored the proposed marijuana legislation.

About 100 people showed up at the hearing, which took three hours to finish.

According to Sen. Teresita A. Santos (R-Rota), there were 27 testimonies in favor of the proposed legislation and three testimonies against it.

Santos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, said the three dissenting votes called for more studies and clarifications of the proposed bill.

The favorable responses were varied, as some wanted to allow the medicinal use of marijuana, while some favored its recreational use.