But as shown during the recent 2017 Annual District Conference hosted by the District Court of Guam, the implementation of medical marijuana on island will not be as simple as some people think. There are a lot of factors that will be coming into play.

Federal regulations continue to be a hurdle in the implementation process. Under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, marijuana remains on the schedule I list of controlled substances. This means that possession, distribution, manufacture and cultivation is illegal under federal law.

? Only Congress can make a change to this by amending the Controlled Substances Act,? U. S. Attorney Alicia A. G. Limtiaco said.

Limtiaco also mentioned an Aug. 13 memo from the US Department of Justice which provides guidance to federal prosecutors on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.? It guides us as to where our federal priorities should be in terms of investigation and prosecution, and taking into consideration our very limited federal resources.?

Eight priority areas have been identified, which include preventing drug driving and the exacerbation of public health consequences associated with marijuana abuse.

According to Limtiaco, when the guidelines were unveiled, there was strong emphasis on ensuring that regulatory enforcement systems are in place.? That these are considered strong. They are effective, well documented and tough on paper and effective in practice,? she said.

With the major transition going on with the US

Department of Justice and with appointment of a new US Attorney General, Limtiaco made a disclaimer in her presentation that the summary only reflects the current state of the agency.

Law enforcement

Presiding Judge Alberto C. Lamorena, III outlined potential implications to DUI enforcement, noting that the public has to be informed that current laws cover marijuana.? What they think of dui they only think about alcohol. Nobody thinks about marijuana or prescription drugs falling under the act,? Lamorena said.? Of course, that has never been really enforced. Unless the person admits that he has smoked marijuana while driving or ingested a controlled substance while driving, there is no way for the police to detect.?

However, that may change according to Lamorena. Last year, 25 Guam police officers participated in Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement program. Some of the local law enforcement officers also trained to become drug recognition experts.

Lamorena admits that the challenge is to enforce DUI laws on those who are driving with high THC levels. The chemical THC or tetrahydrocannabinol produces marijuana ' s psychological effects.? At this point, there is no test to determine at what level THC has an effect on the individual, the research is still going on there. But law enforcement, with the help of the National Highway Safety Administration, has been training the police department. Guam has been included in helping train police officers to identify people who are driving impaired under the influence of drugs.

While it may be difficult to adopt a standard for DUI THC testing, some states have adopted a per se law for impaired driving. According to Guam Attorney General Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson, the DUI committee in her office is looking at revising the Safe Streets Act to potentially include this provision.

Per se laws establish THC impairment limits to

set standards for marijuana-related DUI violations. Some states have adopted a zero tolerance policy which means that even trace amounts of THC in the blood of an individual could lead to a traffic violation.

Aside from DUI enforcement challenges, Lamorena also anticipates the implementation of the medicinal marijuana program to have an impact on child custody and juvenile cases.

? The standard of determining custody is based on what is the best interest of the child,? he said.? If a person is taking medical

By Lo

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