12 Jul 2012

Medicinal marijuana a renewed possibility in Northern Marianas

8:07 pm on 12 July 2012

A bill is being introduced in the Northern Marianas House of Representatives to legalise marijuana for medicinal use.

Representative Stanley Torres' proposed legislation will be the third bill he has introduced to legalise marijuana use for medicinal and/or recreational purposes in the last few years.

Mr Torres, whose previous two bills were either killed by the Senate or abandoned in committees, says studies show marijuana is a safe and effective treatment for dozens of conditions such as cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, migraines, glaucoma and epilepsy.

Medicinal use of marijuana is legal in a number of American states.

The introduction of a new marijuana bill follows a United Nations world drug report that ranked the people of the CNMI as the second highest users of marijuana.

Palau was ranked first and Guam third.