With Guam’s cannabis industry stalled almost seven years after adult recreational use of marijuana was legalized on the island, lawmakers, businesses and government agencies are looking for solutions.
On Thursday, the Department of Public Health and Social Services hosted a summit on cannabis industry regulations, with discussion focusing on how to start an industry that has been unable to produce a single licensed cannabis business since rules were approved in 2022.
Criticism has focused on the regulations, which have been blamed for stalling prospective applicants.
Attorney Vanessa Williams, chair of the Cannabis Control Board, said the current regulations were developed after listening to different voices in the community. Although some control board members favored simplified rules, others urged a more complex legal framework.
“It’s a lot easier to add things later than to claw back things, and that’s where we are now,” she said.
When recreational cannabis was legalized on Guam in 2019, it was less widely accepted by the community.
Williams described the island’s hospitality leadership at the time as “hostile to the industry,” with Guam Visitors Bureau officials expressing concern over how tourists would react to legal marijuana in Tumon.
Ultimately, the board’s goal was to establish rules for a safe and profitable industry.
“It was really hard to build consensus on that,” she said.
Department of Revenue and Taxation Director Marie Lizama said opinions have changed, but more education is still needed.
“I grew up during an era where, you know, our elders were saying ‘That's bad,” Lizama said. She said there is still confusion in the community about the differences between the local cannabis industry, which has yet to start, and hemp products legalized by the federal government that are sold in local stores.
She said for herself and other board members who have never used marijuana, “it certainly is an educational experience.”
Referring to the psychoactive cannabinoids found in hemp and marijuana, Lizama said, “Until recently, I didn't realize there's a difference between Delta-8, Delta-9."
“I retired from the airline industry,” she said. “The only Delta I know is my former employer.”
Williams said attitudes about marijuana have clearly shifted in recent years, with people “understanding that it was no longer criminalized, that we’re not dealing with hard drugs here. We’re dealing with a plant. We’re dealing with medicine.”
Going forward, the Cannabis Control Board will resume monthly meetings, and members hope to get more feedback from the community.
Williams said the board has more work to do.
“If the industry hasn't taken off, if licensees or prospective licensees are having such great challenges, and if agencies are having such great challenges, and now we have the benefit of four years since the rules have passed to see all those problems, let’s eliminate them,” she said. “Let's eliminate the problems, solve the problems, and revise everything that's necessary.”
