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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