Acting Gov. Joshua Tenorio and Speaker Tina Muña Barnes sent a joint letter to Attorney General Leevin Camacho on Monday asking for clarification of his position on the legality of importing and selling cannabidiol, or CBD, products on Guam.
A flood of CBD products have appeared on Guam store shelves since the start of the year, following President Donald Trump’s approval of the farm bill that legalized the use of hemp.
CBD is a derivative of the hemp plant. CBD does not provide the kind of high brought on by tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is a derivative of hemp’s better known cousin, the marijuana plant. However, CBD does have measurable traces of THC, which has placed its legality in doubt for some.
In their letter to the AG, Tenorio and Barnes wrote that “it has come to (their) attention" that the Office of the Attorney General has advised the director of the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services, Linda DeNorcey, “that the importation and presence of CBD products is currently illegal and therefore can neither be imported nor sold on Guam.”
The acting governor asked Camacho for a “written determination of your position on the ability of local businesses and individuals to import CBD products to Guam.”
Delegate also weighs in
Del. Michael San Nicolas has also sent a letter to Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency Director Ike Peredo questioning his authority to seize CBD products.
The delegate expressed concern that the seizures may be in violation of the civil rights of the individuals who ordered the CBD products.
In his letter, San Nicolas notes that Peredo stated plainly that Public Health officials had advised him to “deny” the release of CBD products because of concerns over the “THC levels in said products, as well as labeling concerns from the Food and Drug Administration.”
However, DeNorcey denies that, according to San Nicolas.
DeNorcey told San Nicolas that her “department has neither instructed nor requested for CQA to confiscate or detain any products containing CBD.”
San Nicolas called on Peredo to “clarify as to why CQA continues to retain these products despite” DeNorcey’s denial that DPHSS has asked them to do so.
San Nicolas said he has copied the U.S. Attorney and the Guam attorney general on his correspondence “for their awareness.”
Camacho has not responded to the letter from Tenorio and Barnes.
Peredo could not be reached for comment.
