29 Mar 2011

CNMI lawmaker relaunches marijuana decriminalisation bid

2:35 pm on 29 March 2011

A lawmaker in the Northern Marianas, Stanley Torres, has presented a bill seeking to legalise marijuana use in the CNMI for medical and recreational use, four months after the Senate killed his previous proposal.

Mr Torres says the legalisation, regulation and taxation of cannabis in the Commonwealth will be the best marijuana law in America.

He says his primary reason for introducing the bill is to tax and regulate marijuana transactions in the CNMI, which is in dire financial trouble.

The bill prohibits the possession of marijuana on school grounds and bans the use of marijuana while minors are present.

Mr Torres says the time has come to decriminalise marijuana to the lowest level of misdemeanour crime that can be committed within the CNMI.