by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - It was last week when the Guam Election Commission voted to not place Bill 215 on this year's general election ballot. The measure would let voters decide whether medicinal marijuana should be legalized on Guam.

The GEC adopted its legal counsel opinion that Bill 215 is inorganic and that the legislature doesn't have the authority to pass their law making authority to the voters. The bill's co-author Senator Aline Yamashita says she and the bill's main author Senator Tina Muna Barnes have met on the next steps moving forward.

"There are apparently five options that are being looked at but perhaps the top of the list is not even about medicinal marijuana anymore, it's really about what is the authority of the Guam Legislature, so we're looking at asking for a judgment out of the courts to have a decision be made can the Guam Legislature say to the Election Commission, please put this on the ballot for our people to decide."

Part of the GEC's decision was to suggest to the legislature to seek declaratory relief to get more clarification on the law. Yamashita says the other options discussed include having the court require the GEC to put the measure on the ballot, bring the measure back to session floor or do nothing at all. She says most likely a resolution will be introduced and possibly discussed during this month's legislative session.