The Department of Public Safety is looking at treating cannabis as an illegal drug until the local government comes forth with new rules and regulations that the department can enforce.<\/p>\n
During an interview with Department of Public Safety Commissioner Robert Guerrero, he said his agency will view cannabis as an illegal drug and implement current drug policies until regulations are drafted. <\/p>\n
\u201cI do not have any plans of changing any of our drug policies for the department\u2026We will continue to implement our current drug policies\u2026. until such time that the regulations come out,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Guerrero said that standard drug policies would continue to be carried out by the department\u2019s police officers. <\/p>\n
\u201cOther than the standard drug policies that we have\u2026that\u2019s what we will be going by and that\u2019s what we will maintain as law enforcement officers and as the Department of Public Safety,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The standard policy with any sort of drug is confiscation of the illegal substance and arrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough marijuana is not as bad as \u2018ice,\u2019 we do confiscate it and we still make an arrest,\u201d said Guerrero. <\/p>\n
Guerrero is adamant about sticking to the standard drug procedure until he is notified differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not deviate from that unless otherwise noted by law but for now, that is what we are sticking with,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
According to a previous article on the Saipan Tribune, Gov. Ralph DLG Torres enacted House Bill 20-178, a pro-cannabis legislation that saw the CNMI make history as the first U.S. territory to legalize both medical and recreational use of marijuana. That also made the CNMI the first U.S. jurisdiction to do so through its legislature, rather than via ballot initiative.<\/p>\n
The law legalizes and controls the use of cannabis in the Commonwealth, becoming the first U.S. jurisdiction to allow the commercial and medicinal use of marijuana. Those who are allowed are adults 21 years old or older.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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