ST. CROIX — Senator Positive Nelson’s long-awaited Medical Marijuana bill will be heard in the Committee on Health, Hospital and Human Services, chaired by Senator Kurt Vialet, on June 27, a press release Mr. Nelson’s office issued Thursday has made known.<\/p>\n
The measure, now Bill No. 31-0348, seeks to add a\u00a0new Chapter 30 to Title 19 of Virgin Islands Code, relative to allowing the medical use of cannabis; to regulate medical cannabis provisioning centers and other related entities; to provide for the powers and duties of The Office of Cannabis Regulation to allow for the promulgation of rules and regulations of the medical cannabis industry; to provide immunity for persons and entities engaging in activities in compliance with this Act; and amending provisions of the Controlled Substances Act,\u201d according to the measure\u2019s language. The full bill can seen \u00a0here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Mr. Nelson will host a press conference on Tuesday where he will be discussing the bill, as well as some of his other initiatives.<\/p>\n Mr. Nelson officially introduced the measure during a press conference in May, 2015, following an expedition to Washington State and Colorado, where the senator and his delegation met with government officials, leaders in the field of medical marijuana, and other advocates.<\/p>\n Mr. Nelson, along with members of the expedition, including St. Thomas Sen. Tregenza Roach, Dr. Manuel Da Motta, D.O., and others, spoke about their experience, making known that they were now stronger advocates of the drug than before the trip.<\/p>\n \u201cThis trip took me on a spiritual expedition,\u201d Mr. Nelson said, \u201cI\u2019m having a spiritual experience, people, and it\u2019s beautiful. Mr. Nelson that said before embarking on the journey, he thought he was liberal in his thinking, \u201cbut I\u2019ve experienced it at another level. I mean, it\u2019s changing and it\u2019s causing me to recalibrate my position on some issues.\u201d\u00a0The expedition, he added, was useful in helping draft a better bill \u2014 taking the good parts of what has worked on the U.S. mainland, while steering clear from what has not.<\/p>\n At one point during his talk, Mr. Nelson held up a small canister containing a liquid form of medical marijuana.<\/p>\n \u201cShould somebody be locked up for this?\u201d Mr. Nelson asked. \u201cThis is cannabis oil, this isn\u2019t smoking weed. This is cannabis oil that\u2019s been proven to work \u2014 made from a plant.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Nelson said the oil was made by pressing marijuana leaves, and he repeatedly asked why should someone be locked up for marijuana oil, when \u201cit\u2019s not something you smoke,\u201d but rather a liquid applied underneath the tongue.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving seen upfront what this does, how can we not?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Mr. Roach, who was only able to make the Colorado leg of the expedition, called the trip a meaningful opportunity, and said he embarked on the experience not as an advocate for medical marijuana nor the full legalization of the drug, but because the people of the territory\u00a0voted in favor<\/a><\/span>\u00a0of creating a medical marijuana industry here.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not believe people should ever be afraid of learning,\u201d Mr. Roach said. \u201cBecause when I came back, I was even more convinced about the medicinal benefits and the value of medicinal marijuana as an industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Using statistics, Mr. Roach said 23 states had already legalized medical marijuana; and five, including the District of Columbia, had legalized the drug.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, literally, this is not going to turn back,\u201d Mr. Roach said.<\/p>\n Mr. Roach did, however, point out some federal restrictions that must be looked at when crafting the local legislation.<\/p>\n For example, U.S. banks are not allowed to take monies made from the medical marijuana industry because they are members of the\u00a0Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (F.D.I.C.). Under federal law, marijuana is treated like every other controlled substance such as cocaine and heroine, according to Americans for Safe Access<\/a><\/span>, an organization created to advance legal medical marijuana.<\/p>\n When asked about the potential problem of having thousands of dollars being stored in the homes of business owners in the territory because the banks are forbidden from accepting money from the industry, Mr. Nelson said people with money usually find ways to make things happen.<\/p>\n The senator also encouraged the community to continue being strong advocates of the local movement and applauded those who picketed<\/a><\/span> Governor Kenneth Mapp at the Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center last year.<\/p>\n On the expedition, the delegation met with\u00a0a total of 17 private and governmental agencies, 16 facilities ranging from dispensaries\/pharmacies, store fronts, farms, testing labs, extraction labs, and companies that create the machines for the medical marijuana industry.<\/p>\n