Pulling weeds—AT&M economic reform
The truth of the matter is our economy is still sliding off the edge of a cliff while we waste money on the Cannabis Commission and people suffer austerity. The arrivals are even down, not up as predicted by those with their push for China. I must ask, starting with Jude Hofschneider who first brought up the idea to pursue China and the others who pushed China, what happened! Why did you, Jude, conduct a kangaroo trial and set Ralph free to trigger more havoc with over $17 million more in damages? Being a real economist it is so darn painful to see our leaders just make one mistake after another while the CNMI continues to decline. Heck, we are experiencing austerity after a nearly $2-billion booster shot in the arm for our economy figuratively—it’s horrific and even a horror story ripe for a movie if Ralph is ever convicted on his RICO charges in federal court. As stewards (voters) responsible for the CNMI, we as a people must do better as we must pull the weeds.” But the one thing we can’t afford to mess up is Washington! We must elect a Democrat to work with a Democrat Congress and President—just the truth and reality of the political arena in Washington and our situation.
The weeds that are now overgrown and exposed is the Cannabis Commission that must go. Thanks to my friend and social, political, and sports guru Bob Coldeen, we now have the final piece of the puzzle with Alcohol-Tobacco (A&T) and now Marijuana (AT&M). Commerce as the custodian for licensing, mayors, and municipal councils for local ordinances and governance for events, and the inclusion of the Alcohol-Tobacco eliminates the entire need for the director and enforcement, as A&T are already setup for enforcement and state issues can remain with the CNMI’s legislature. We can eliminate the entire CC, saving around $300,000 a year all while creating the conditions for a self-driven cannabis industry to thrive at no cost to our government just like the hotel industry and other businesses. The reform will always keep us in the black from licensing, fees and taxes, not red.
The dispensaries need to unite like the hotel association who sponsor their own events and advertisements or there may not be any. However, the reform does eliminate all CC’s cost as the “Alcohol, Tobacco & Marijuana Reform Act,” (AT&M Reform Act) thanks Coldeen and his wisdom. Our CNMI literally owes you for another homerun Bob. FYI readers, the advertisement would actually “support the CNMI being a family destination,” as I have been yelling for the change to a family destination since around 2012. I warned then the WWII tourism model was dying a slow death and now it’s virtually dead, as the tourists with connections to the CNMI and the war were dying. Cannabis tourism must become part of our new tourism model whether we like it or not, as it is legal and we do want to make money from the sales! But the bigger challenge is not so much reforming the cannabis industry, it’s reforming our tourism model so MVA can really have something new to promote and sell to tourists. we need attraction(s) like a theme park, especially for children, more than anything to be a family destination. But no one is doing the work thinking investors are going to just drop in an save us like angels—duh!
We must also be mindful that the alcohol and tobacco industries were built on billions of dollars in advertisement, and it is “necessary and proper” for the CNMI’s government to give the cannabis tourism industry a “shot in the arm” to get started—but it’s also time to cut-bait with a commission idea that didn’t work. I’m sure the concerns are “We can’t just advertise to come and smoke marijuana in the CNMI” and they are right. That’s why the governor asked me, a real economist artist with a BA degree who was “educated and trained to work in thinktanks, thinking in/outside of paradigms.” Without giving away my pearls (intellectual property), I can assure the people that the advertisement is not direct but a “methodology driven by the everyday practices of adverse and subliminal advertisement with a standardized warning about marijuana in the CNMI and to respect the CNMI laws and the laws of their country.” There will be no advertisement saying, “come and smoke marijuana in the CNMI.” So, the integrity of the CNMI being a respectful family destination will continue to be respected while promoting the industry subliminally, as it’s about common-sense reform. We can “chew gum and walk at the same time” if the industry is to be reformed, as we will save money and finally make money! Guam has entered the race for recreational cannabis tourists in our region and if we don’t help our industry get started to really compete with Guam and make money, then it was a total waste of our money and time. We will lose the economic race for Tourists in our region, and it will be another “I told you so!”
Ambrose M. Bennett is an economist who minored in sociology, political scientist, a retired teacher, and former CNMI Board of Education member, a James Madison Fellow (U.S. constitutional scholar), a Fulbright-Hays and lifetime humanities scholar who resides in Kagman III in the CNMI.
