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.
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