April 5, 2019 - 17:10 AMT
Guam legalizes recreational use of marijuana

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero signed the Guam Cannabis Industry Act of 2019 into law Thursday, April 4, Pacific Daily News reports.

Sen. Clynton Ridgell's Bill 32-35 decriminalizes the recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 and older, and establishes a framework for the creation of a cannabis industry that could eventually lead to the legalization of the production, sale and taxation of marijuana on Guam.

"I have decided to sign Bill 32 into law," Gov. Leon Guerrero declared to a packed house of journalists and observers gathered at Adelup to hear her decision.

The measure is now Public Law 35-5.

The governor said she "listened intensely" to both the opponents and proponents of the measure. She made her decision with an "open mind" following "tremendous earnest debate."

She said "at the end of the day" the one question she had to answer was: "What would a responsible community government leader do to protect the interest and welfare of the community?"

Her answer: "We have to take it and control it (and) we must regulate this illicit drug that is the most widely used drug in our society."

Keeping marijuana illegal would allow the underground market to "continue to prey on us," she said.

"We all agree (on) the positive medicinal effects of cannabis" said the governor, "and the good it has done for those in pain and suffering from cancer, PTSD (and) debilitating neurological events."