Gov. Eddie Calvo has signed off on the revised rules and regulations for medicinal marijuana on Guam.

As of press time last night, the governor's office was still processing the 1,000-page document. Oyaol Ngirairikl, the governor's spokeswoman, stated that the document is expected to be transferred to the legislative secretary early today.

Once the document reaches the legislature, it will enter the final stretch of a nearly two-year long journey that began with a voter referendum in 2014 that approved the Joaquin (KC) Concepcion II Compassionate Cannabis Use Act of 2013.

The measure tasked the Department of Public Health and Social Services with creating a set of rules and regulations for the distribution and cultivation of medical marijuana. A draft set of rules was completed in April 2015.

The attorney general’s office received a copy of the draft rules on Oct. 19, 2015 as required by the Administrative Adjudication Act. The rules sat with the attorney general for several months for review. By late April, the review was completed but the rules could not be transferred back to DPHSS because the cost to implement the rules had increased.

According to DPHSS Director James Gillan, the state of Arizona, on whose medicinal marijuana rules Guam's are based, indicated it could not assist the island with electronic registration and monitoring.

This development increased implementation costs to more than $500,000 as DPHSS must now hire extra staff and implement an information system.

As per the adjudication act, an economic impact statement needed to be transmitted along with the rules. The statement was provided to the attorney general within the following weeks and on May 1, the rules were sent back to DPHSS for their review.

Format

"The whole thing was reviewed by my staff and the attorney general's office so it was done in a format and language that we thought was appropriate," said Tom Nadeau, the chief environmental public health officer for DPHSS. Shortly after receiving the rules from the attorney general, DPHSS transferred them to the governor's office for his consideration.

While the governor had the authority to make changes, Ngirairikl said he was content with the rules and no changes were made. Once at the legislature, senators have 90 days to act or the rules are automatically adopted per the adjudication law.