Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina.
PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina said Monday that St. Maarten should not rush cannabis legislation simply to have it completed during the current government’s term.
He said commercialisation should not be treated as the automatic outcome of regulation. Mercelina made the remarks during the continuation of the meeting on the draft 2026 budget, while answering questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) in the first round.
“If that requires more time, then we will take that time,” Mercelina said. “In my view, it would be irresponsible to accelerate the entry into force of legislation solely so that we can say it was completed within this term of government.”
The prime minister said his position is based on caution and concerns about the possible effects of a fundamental change in cannabis policy on public health, young people, society, the justice system and the country’s ability to implement, supervise and enforce a new system.
“As prime minister, my starting point on the cannabis is that caution is required,” he said.
Mercelina said government must first determine what cannabis policy St. Maarten actually wants to pursue before deciding how cannabis should be regulated. “We should not begin from the assumption that a commercial cannabis market must necessarily be the ultimate objective,” he said.
He stressed that legalisation, regulation and commercialisation are separate policy choices. Legalisation concerns which currently prohibited cannabis-related activities the government would permit. Regulation concerns the rules governing those permitted activities, while commercialisation concerns whether businesses would be allowed to produce, process, distribute and sell cannabis commercially. “Commercialisation should not be treated as a predetermined outcome of regulation,” Mercelina said.
The prime minister said government must also determine whether the existing prohibition should remain while prevention and enforcement are strengthened, whether a framework limited to medical cannabis should be considered, whether a limited and controlled model or pilot could be pursued, or whether a broader regulated model should be considered.
Public health and youth
Mercelina said public health and the protection of young people must come first in any cannabis policy decision. He pointed to information from the Mental Health Foundation, which he said has raised concerns about the possible normalisation of cannabis use, dependency and mental-health consequences, particularly among young people.
According to Mercelina, the Mental Health Foundation has indicated that cannabis plays a significant role among clients admitted to MHF and that there are clear indications of an association with recurrent psychosis.
He also said MHF has indicated that there is currently no structured outpatient treatment network for cannabis dependence and no structural prevention and public-awareness programmes specifically addressing cannabis use.
The prime minister said MHF and Turning Point are currently not adequately equipped to absorb a possible increase in demand for care and that, as far as MHF is aware, educational campaigns have not yet been initiated, particularly in schools. “These are matters that government cannot simply address after a new system has already been introduced,” he said.
The prime minister said protecting young people requires more than setting a minimum age in legislation. He said there must also be adequate prevention and education, accessible addiction and mental-health services, trained professionals, targeted programmes for young people and vulnerable groups, and the ability to monitor the consequences of any policy change.
He said also that the legal basis for any chosen cannabis policy must be clear and coherent.
If activities contemplated under a new cannabis framework are currently prohibited under the Opium National Ordinance, he said, it must be established which activities government intends to permit, which should remain prohibited and punishable, for whom exceptions would apply and on what legal basis.
He said the relationship between the proposed Cannabis National Ordinance, the Opium National Ordinance and other relevant legislation must therefore be legally resolved.
“This is not merely a technical drafting issue,” Mercelina said. “Government must know with legal certainty what becomes lawful, what remains unlawful and under what conditions.”
Treaty obligations also need assessment
The prime minister said government must separately assess St. Maarten’s international treaty obligations before making a final policy decision. He said the assessment must establish which international drug-control treaties apply to St. Maarten, what obligations arise from those treaties and what legal scope they leave for different policy options.
According to Mercelina, the assessment must distinguish between medical and scientific cannabis and recreational and commercial activities. “As prime minister, I believe government must have clarity on those international obligations before taking a final policy decision,” he said.
Mercelina repeatedly stressed that passing legislation and creating a licensing system on paper would not be enough. He said government must know who would issue licences, supervise licence holders, inspect cultivation and production facilities and retail outlets, test products, monitor tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels and contaminants, supervise track-and-trace systems and intervene when rules are violated.
He said these responsibilities would require personnel, expertise, financial resources, inspection capacity and effective coordination between institutions.
The police, justice authorities, Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor VSA, customs and other relevant institutions, he said, must be able to identify the responsibilities a new system would create, the additional capacity required and whether they are actually able to carry out those responsibilities. “As prime minister, I cannot look only at whether a system can be created in legislation. I must also be satisfied that the country is capable of making that system work in practice,” Mercelina said. “That is precisely why the legislation must not run ahead of St. Maarten’s capacity to implement, supervise and enforce it.”
Mercelina said cannabis policy also has to take into account the fact that Dutch St. Maarten shares one island with French St. Martin and has an open border.
He said the government must establish what legal framework applies to cannabis on the French side, how cannabis-related activities and offences are regulated and enforced there, and what could happen if different cannabis regimes operate on the same island.
The assessment, he said, should also examine cooperation between authorities on both sides, including information-sharing and enforcement, as well as cross-border movement of cannabis and illegal trade.
He outlined what he described as the necessary sequence for government. First, he said, government must determine what cannabis policy is responsible and appropriate for St. Maarten and what that policy is intended to achieve.
Second, it must determine what activities it intends to permit and what should remain prohibited, while resolving domestic legal and international treaty questions.
Third, the necessary public-health and youth-protection safeguards must be identified and strengthened, and the required institutional, supervisory and enforcement capacity established.
Fourth, relevant experts, institutions and implementing authorities must be properly consulted and their advice considered. Before any chosen model enters into force, he said, government must be satisfied that the essential conditions for implementation, supervision and enforcement are in place. Mercelina said a phased approach may ultimately be appropriate, but stressed that phasing should not be understood as an automatic pathway toward commercialisation.
He added that commercialisation, if considered at all, remains a separate policy decision.
Mercelina acknowledged that regulation can have benefits, including better product control, reduced criminalisation and potentially greater control over the illegal market. However, he said those benefits do not automatically result from adopting legislation.
He also said international experience shows that regulation should be accompanied by clear objectives, effective supervision, THC controls, protection of young people, limits on commercialisation and continuous evaluation.
“My responsibility as prime minister is to ensure that, if government takes such a fundamental policy decision, it does so responsibly – on a sound legal basis, with the necessary public-health and youth-protection safeguards, after obtaining and considering the relevant advice, and with the institutional capacity necessary to implement, supervise and enforce the chosen policy.”
It does not mean that regulation is being rejected in advance,” he said. “It means that legalisation, regulation and commercialisation are distinct policy choices, and commercialisation should not be treated as a predetermined outcome.”
