Public support for use of medical marijuana in Guam

Transcript

Guam has voted in favour of allowing the use of medical marijuana, making it the first United States territory to do so.

Inspite of strong views against the use of the drug in the lead up to this week's referendum, more than 56 percent of voters said yes to the medicinal cannabis.

The Director of the Department of Public Health and Social Services, James Gillan, spoke with Koroi Hawkins about the significance of the decision.

JAMES GILLAN: First United States territory to have passed a medicinal marijuana law, I know that the district of Columbia in the United States has this law in place already but they have a different political status and so that's remarkable from that standpoint.

KOROI HAWKINS: And what does it mean for the Department of Health in terms of what is to be done from this point on?

JG: When we take everything into account I have one year to have all of the rules and the regulations adopted and again approved one more time by the legislature. That entails listing all of the medical conditions that, that maybe covered under this but there is also the provision for adding any others as we, as we see the need, it allows for us to set up the rules and regulations for the dispensing facilities if we choose to have such, ah it, you know, also defines what a certified patient is, what a certified caregiver is, there's all kinds of actually discretion in this law on, on behalf of the department and how it's going to be implemented.

KH: And why would the Guam public come behind this and what does it mean on a broader scale for Guam as a territory of the US?

JG: You know, I think what the public is sensing is you know, that there are certain medical conditions that just dont seem to improve when you use conventional medicine, you know there's been a long tradition in the territory especially at, you know in the islands of herbal medicines and the use of natural products so their is that culture here. But it's also, you know, there are people who are victims of cancer who are terminal who can be helped in terms of either their appetite or pain management when every other, you know attempt has failed and I think in the long run some of the attempts to continue to treat people in the stateside medical model get very expensive. And when there appears to be no hope, why, why not use something that's cheaper and perhaps helps with the pain management and with, sometimes with appetite increasing.

KH: And in terms of procurement, where is this marijuana going to come from if everything goes according to plan?

JG: Well it's going to have to be grown locally because the United States federal law would prohibit any inter-state transportation of that product. So we'll be joining with our partners at the University of Guam to see what we can do about developing a product that is fairly consistent and in terms of its medicinal capacity.

KH: And, and is this law final? Is there any way that this law will not go ahead?

JG: The only, only way we see now is  there's been an issue raised as to whether or not, because we are really basically a federal territory whether or not we are even allowed to do this, because of the fact that the Congress has created the territory.