![](\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/imgupload\/25f801da8903674c2bdc22bf0052874d.png\")
<\/p>\nThe 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\u2014it\u2019s 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.\u201d But the one thing we can\u2019t afford to mess up is Washington! We must elect a Democrat to work with a Democrat Congress and President\u2014just the truth and reality of the political arena in Washington and our situation.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s cost as the \u201cAlcohol, Tobacco & Marijuana Reform Act,\u201d (AT&M Reform Act) thanks Coldeen and his wisdom. Our CNMI literally owes you for another homerun Bob. FYI readers, the advertisement would actually \u201csupport the CNMI being a family destination,\u201d 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\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2014duh!<\/p>\n
We must also be mindful that the alcohol and tobacco industries were built on billions of dollars in advertisement, and it is \u201cnecessary and proper\u201d for the CNMI\u2019s government to give the cannabis tourism industry a \u201cshot in the arm\u201d to get started\u2014but it\u2019s also time to cut-bait with a commission idea that didn\u2019t work. I\u2019m sure the concerns are \u201cWe can\u2019t just advertise to come and smoke marijuana in the CNMI\u201d and they are right. That\u2019s why the governor asked me, a real economist artist with a BA degree who was \u201ceducated and trained to work in thinktanks, thinking in\/outside of paradigms.\u201d Without giving away my pearls (intellectual property), I can assure the people that the advertisement is not direct but a \u201cmethodology 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.\u201d There will be no advertisement saying, \u201ccome and smoke marijuana in the CNMI.\u201d So, the integrity of the CNMI being a respectful family destination will continue to be respected while promoting the industry subliminally, as it\u2019s about common-sense reform. We can \u201cchew gum and walk at the same time\u201d 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\u2019t 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 \u201cI told you so!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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