Northern Mariana Islands countries/mp.yaml
The Northern Mariana Islands legalised adult and medical use in September 2018. Adults 21 and over may carry an ounce, keep eight at home and grow their own. Licensed shops and lounges opened in 2021; the commission reported retailer-delivery rules in 2025January 2026 the regulator moved from the Cannabis Commission to the Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco Control Division.
Adults 21 and over may possess up to 1 ozone ounce in a public place and up to 8 ozeight ounces of usable cannabis at home, plus up to 16 ozsixteen ounces of solid and 72 ozseventy-two ounces of liquid cannabis products and 5 gfive grams of extracts.[@pit20] Possession is barred in cannabis-free zones such as government buildings, schools, federal buildings and businesses licensed to serve alcohol.[@law18] Exceeding a limit by up to twice brings up to thirty days and $1,250; more than twice up to four times brings a year and $2,500; more than four times brings five years and $5,000.[@law18]
pit20, law18
Adults may grow up to six mature and twelve immature plants per household or cultivation site, out of public view and secured against unauthorised access and access by people under 21.[@codeHome] A homegrown-registry card is required, with a statutory annual fee of $75.[@codeRegistry] The 2019 amendment protected compliant growing while registry rules were unfinished, subject to obtaining a card when available.[@law19] Homegrown cannabis may not be sold.[@codeHome] Seven to twelve mature plants bring up to six months and $500, or a year and $1,000 on a repeat; thirteen to twenty-nine bring five years and $5,000; thirty or more bring ten years and $10,000.[@law18]
codeHome, codeRegistry, law19, law18
Inside the limits nothing is punished. Using cannabis while driving brings fines[@law18] Public use or display, use in front of up to $500someone under 21, and suspension of the licence for up to six months foruse in a first offence,cannabis-free zone are civil violations; under-21 possession and up to $1,000unlicensed delivery are separate offences.[@law18] Compliance and a year for a repeatlicensing are handled by the Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco Control Division after the January 2026 transfer.[@eo25,abtc26]
pit20law18, eo25, abtc26
USD
label Using cannabis while driving, first offence · treatment civil · fine 500 · note Plus licence suspension for up to six months, label Using cannabis while driving, repeat offence · repeat 2 · treatment civil · fine 1000 · note Plus licence suspension for up to a year
Adults 21 and over may give another adult up to one ounce of usable cannabis, 16sixteen ounces of solid products, 72seventy-two ounces of liquid products, five grams of extracts or six immature plants for noncommercial purposes.[@codeHome] The recipient must accept the gift. Homegrown, and homegrown cannabis and plants may not be sold for consideration.[@codeHome] Delivery for consideration carries up to a year and $5,000; free delivery up to six months and $1,000; a free gift under one ounce is a $500 fine.[@law18]
codeHome, law18
Use is legal in private, but using or displaying cannabis in a public place, on public property or in front of anyone under 21 is unlawful.[@law18] Licensed lounges allow on-site consumption.[@ccr25] Public use is a $250 first violation and $1,000 subsequently; use in a cannabis-free zone is $500 first and $1,000 subsequently.[@law18]
pit20law18, ccr25
The commission licensesCannabis Commission licensed producers, processors, retailers, wholesalers, lounges and testing.; Saipan Select held a soft opening on 14 July 2021 and its grand opening on 16 July. Seven retailers renewed licences in[@firstShop] In November 2025 Governor Apatang transferred the regulatory duties to the Alcohol Beverage and Tobacco Control Division of the Department of Commerce, effective 18 January 2026; the commission’sstatute still names the Commission, so the legal authority is unsettled.[@eo25,abtc26] The September 2025 report also records amended retailer-delivery ruleslist had eight producers, seven retailers, two lounges and a compliance advisory for delivery from licensed premisestwo processors, with no testing laboratory or wholesaler.[@ccr25]
firstShop, eo25, abtc26, ccr25
Adults 21 and over may possess up to one ounce in public and eight ounces at home, plus so … registry card.[@codeHome,codeRegistry] Use is legal in private and in licensed lounges.[@pit20law18,ccr25]
pit20, codeHome, codeRegistry, law18, ccr25
A 2020 hemp law put production under the Division of Agriculture with a 0.3% THC ceiling, … y/cnmi-hemp-agriculture-transfer-2020/) removed hemp from the cannabis commission's remit.[@hemp20]
Licensed producers grow under canopy classes; the commission countedSeptember 2025 list had eight producer licensees in 2025, and licensees employed about sixty people.[@ccr25] There is no certified testing laboratory in the Commonwealth, and a producer-licence moratorium has been in place since January 2024.[@ccr24] Products are flower, extracts and edibles from licensed processors, with potency limits for concentrates, edibles, tinctures and topicals in progress in 2025.[@ccr25]
ccr25, ccr24
The 2018 law covers medical as well as adult use.[@law18] A patient or caregiver may grow up to twelve mature and twenty-four immature plants when a physician considers it necessary and practical for treatment, with a registry card and physician statement.[@codeHome] The 2019 law allows licensed sales to patients aged eighteen to twenty-one with a valid doctor’'s recommendation, including qualifying recommendations from a nonresident patient’'s country of origin.[@law19]
law18, codeHome, law19
Cannabis excise and surtax brought in $686,979 in fiscal 2024 but only $113,880 by July 2025, against a $517,868 budget.[@ccr25] In 2025 the commission cut licence fees by 25% and adopted rules for a seed-to-sale tracking system.[@ccr25] The revenue figure is disputed: the acting chair said one retailer remitted about $20,000 a month, implying a higher annual total.[@abtc26]
ccr25, abtc26
No cannabis clubs are known. Licensed lounges, where adults consume on site, take the place clubs fill elsewhere.[@ccr25]
CNMI Cannabis Commission — Citizen-Centric Report FY2024
CNMI Governor — Executive Order 2025-005, transfer of cannabis regulation to ABTC (18 November 2025)
CNMI Department of Commerce — transition of cannabis regulatory functions to ABTC (16 January 2026)
CNMI — 9 CMC sections 7105 and 7109, driving under the influence
US National Drug Intelligence Center — Northern Mariana Islands Drug Threat Assessment (October 2003)
Marianas Press — DPS drug caseload (28 October 2026)
Wikipedia — Cannabis in the Northern Mariana Islands
8 unchanged
USD
label Up to twice the possession limit · treatment criminal · term Possession over the limit · prison 30 days · fine 1250, label More than twice but up to four times the limit · treatment criminal · term Possession over the limit · prison 1 year · fine 2500, label More than four times the limit · treatment criminal · term Possession over the limit · prison 5 years · fine 5000
USD
label Seven to twelve mature plants · treatment criminal · term Unlawful cultivation · prison 6 months · fine 500 · note Repeat offence up to one year and $1,000, label Thirteen to twenty-nine mature plants · treatment criminal · term Unlawful cultivation · prison 5 years · fine 5000, label Thirty or more mature plants · treatment criminal · term Unlawful cultivation · prison 10 years · fine 10000
USD
label Delivery for consideration · treatment criminal · term Unlawful delivery · prison 1 year · fine 5000, label Free delivery · treatment criminal · term Unlawful delivery · prison 6 months · fine 1000, label Free gift under one ounce · treatment civil · term Gift · fine 500
USD
label Public use or display · treatment civil · term Public consumption · fine 250 · note $1,000 for a subsequent violation, label Use in a cannabis-free zone · treatment civil · term Public consumption · fine 500 · note $1,000 for a subsequent violation
legal
unclear
legal
gift
"Marijuana" includes seeds, but "usable marijuana" excludes them, and adults may hold and sow seeds within the six-plant home grow.[@codeHome] Clones and immature plants count toward the twelve-immature limit, and adults may gift up to six immature plants.[@codeHome] Selling homegrown plants or seeds for consideration is unlawful delivery; no retail seed or clone licence exists.[@codeHome,law18]
codeHome, law18
open
The possession, home-grow and gifting clauses have no residency requirement, so an adult 21 or over may buy at a licensed retailer and possess or gift within the caps.[@law18] Patients aged 18 to 21 may buy with a doctor's recommendation, including one from their home country.[@law19] Federal law still bars carrying cannabis between islands and across US borders, and airports and ports are enforcement points.[@ccr25]
law18, law19, ccr25
impairment
Driving under the influence of any drug that makes safe driving impossible is an offence under 9 CMC sections 7105 and 7109, with 72 hours to one year and a $500–1,000 fine on a first conviction, plus a 30-day to six-month licence suspension; repeats reach one year and $1,000.[@dui] There is no THC blood limit; the standard is impairment.[@dui] A separate provision, 4 CMC section 53067, punishes consuming cannabis while driving with up to $500 and a six-month suspension, or $1,000 and a year on a repeat.[@law18]
dui, law18
The last detailed federal picture, from 2003, found local cultivation small and mostly personal, most supply coming from the Philippines and Palau, wholesale at about $1,500 a pound in Saipan and joints at $2.50 before 2000–01 eradication pushed them to $20–50.[@ndic03] In 2025 the commission identified diversion into the illicit market, the absence of a certified testing laboratory and unregulated hemp-derived intoxicants as risks; no current size estimate was found.[@ccr25]
ndic03, ccr25
No cannabis-only arrest series is published. The police commissioner said in October 2026 that the Department of Public Safety was handling about 40 drug cases, down from 80 to 100 previously, without a reporting period or cannabis breakdown.[@dps26] The DEA/CNMI task force arrested 122 people and seized 9.8 kg of marijuana between 1996 and February 2002.[@ndic03]
dps26, ndic03