Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero has declared a public health emergency on the island that suspends all “non-essential” government activity through May 6 in a move that will likely delay the release of Guam’s forthcoming adult-use cannabis regulations, according to a Cannabis Wire report.
Last year, Leon Guerrero signed the Guam Cannabis Industry Act into law to legalize adult-use cannabis for adults 21 and older. The law granted regulators one year to establish a regulatory framework to license the industry and launch legal sales, Cannabis Wire reported.
The one-year mark passed during the first week of April, according to the news outlet, but no regulations have been released.
The Cannabis Control Board—established by the legalization bill to regulate and oversee the industry—has been shut down since Leon Guerrero’s order went into effect March 16, Cannabis Wire reported, although the board did hold several meetings before the shutdown in order to meet its deadline.
Guam is not the only jurisdiction facing delays in the launch of its adult-use cannabis market; lawmakers in Mexico have asked for the extension of an April 30 deadline to draft a bill that would legalize and regulate medical, adult-use and industrial cannabis, and Maine announced last week that its adult-use cannabis market launch has been indefinitely postponed due to safety concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
