Steve Limtiaco, Pacific Daily News USA TODAY NETWORK
Published 5:58 a.m. ChT May 24, 2020

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The Cannabis Control Board will resume meeting to complete the rules and regulations for the island’s recreational marijuana industry, said board Chairwoman Vanessa Williams.

Williams said she expects to schedule on online board meeting sometime during the first week of June.

The board stopped meeting during the pandemic public health emergency, which was declared in mid-March, and therefore missed an April 4 deadline, set by Guam law, to conduct a public hearing and submit the rules and regulations.

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Adults can possess, grow and consume recreational cannabis, but selling it or trading it for anything of value remains illegal until government rules and regulations are written and implemented. That includes separate regulations for cultivators, manufacturers and retailers.

The board said it also is considering rules and regulations for businesses related to the cannabis industry, such as transportation and security companies.

The board hasn’t released the proposed rules and regulations, which are in draft form, but must publish them before the required public hearing is held.

“I expect at that meeting we’ll finalize rules to publish to the public and go through the public hearing process required by the administrative adjudication law rule-making process,” Williams said. “I anticipate we will also have to discuss whether those public hearings also are allowed to be through Zoom or how we can otherwise safely make that happen soon.”

Lawmakers last year passed the Guam Cannabis Industry Act of 2019, which Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero signed into law April 4, 2019.

The law requires the cannabis board to schedule a public hearing, with at least 10 days notice, published in a newspaper. Copies of the proposed rules must be made publicly available, once the hearing notice is published.

The cannabis board also is required to make an economic impact statement available before the public hearing, but there is no specific deadline.

Members of the public must be given “an adequate opportunity” during the public hearing to present facts or arguments about the proposed rules. The cannabis board is required to fully consider all information presented during the hearing and can change the proposed rules without holding another hearing.

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