Guam to begin accepting MMJ business applications this week

Guam is about to get its medical cannabis industry off the ground.

Entrepreneurs hoping to enter the U.S. territory’s MMJ market can begin applying for licenses Jan. 18, the Pacific Daily News reported.

Guam voters passed a measure to legalize medical marijuana in November 2014, and it finally lapsed into effect Dec. 17, 2016, without Gov. Eddie Calvo having signed it.

Calvo favors a recreational program instead of medical cannabis and has introduced a bill that would legalize adult-use cannabis for adults 21 and older. Rec marijuana would incur a 15% tax whose proceeds would go to Guam Memorial Hospital, according to the Pacific Daily News.

Under Guam’s medical cannabis law, business owners can apply for commercial licenses for dispensaries, grow sites, production facilities and testing labs.

The health department is permitted to register patients with the following qualifying conditions:

• Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Glaucoma
• HIV or AIDS
• Hospice care under specific rules
• Multiple sclerosis
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Rheumatoid arthritis or similar inflammatory disorders
• Spinal cord damage
• Other illnesses for which a patient’s physician believes cannabis may provide relief

Guam and Puerto Rico are the only U.S. territories with legalized cannabis of any type.