The CNMI Democratic Party supports medicinal marijuana but believes that further study should be done before approving recreational marijuana. <\/p>\n
According to CNMI Democratic Party chair Nola Hix, the Democrats have reached a unanimous decision that they agree with the enactment of medicinal marijuana but they still have questions about its recreational use. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have basically reached a consensus in regards to agreeing with the cannabis bill in regards to the medicinal part. I think there are a ton of questions that have been raised with regards to the recreational part,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Although many see recreational marijuana as a means of economic growth, there is still research to be done on its effects, Hix said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that a lot of people see this as economically a great thing but we really need to be prepared. We really need to do some homework on where it\u2019s recreational now\u2014to see what\u2019s happening, what are the issues\u2014because a lot of people have been bringing it up and because we\u2019re such a small island, we need to be prepared to address the stuff moving forward,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s been passed [but] I think there are several concerns from a lot of constituents with regards to the recreational part. We all need to work on addressing some of the issues before we just roll this out,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
Hix is personally concerned about where the money will come from in terms of the Cannabis Commission\u2019s salaries. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy biggest concern is that they mirrored the casino bill with regards to the commission. The commission that they\u2019re looking to bring on board is going to be paid $65,000 a year. Where is that money coming from? Is that taxpayers\u2019 money and that\u2019s my biggest concern,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Hix used the casino as an example, According to Hix, if the CNMI struggles with the regulation of the casino, it would be even more challenging to regulate recreational cannabis. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can barely even regulate a casino, what makes us think we are experts in the cannabis field? We want to be. I know Ralph DLG Torres is proud to be the first to get it passed, but we are not cannabis experts, just as we weren\u2019t casino experts,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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