Guam
Oceania
43/100
Not ranked: Unincorporated territory
would rank #6 among countries
Adults 21 and over may hold limited amounts, give cannabis away and grow six plants per residence, with no more than three flowering. Medical patients gained a separate home-growing permit route in 2018. Commercial supply has faced years of delays: the first grower’s operating permit was approved in June 2026, with further steps still required before production and sales.
Unincorporated territory. Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States with its own legislature and laws. Federal drug law applies there as in the states. See also 🇺🇸 United States.
In short all countries →
- Can I carry it?YesLegal up to a limit
- Can I grow it?YesA few plants at home are legal
- Can I buy it?NoThere is no legal source
- Can I use it in public?NoIn private only
- What if I'm caught?NothingIf you stay within the limits
A rough guide read from the scores below, not legal advice. The details and the exceptions are in each segment: select an answer to jump to it.
- Cannabis users
- about 12,000
- Share aged 15–64
- about 11.5%
This site's figure: there is no national survey, so the median rate of surveyed countries in Oceania is applied to people aged 15–64.
Source A median computed on this site from surveyed countries in Oceania, using UNODC World Drug Report 2026 figures. Population from the World Bank, aged 15–64. The whole dataset →Score breakdown ▏world average
Select a segment to show or hide the exact rules and sources. How the scores are made →
Possession · 25%5/10adds 12.5 of 25 points
Personal cultivation · 25%4/10adds 10.0 of 25 points
Adults may grow no more than six plants per residence, including no more than three mature flowering plants. The growing area must be enclosed, locked and hidden from public view, on property the grower lawfully possesses or uses with consent. A separate medical permit scheme allows six flowering and twelve juvenile plants while no medical dispensary is operating.[1][3]
Punishment & enforcement · 20%6/10adds 12.0 of 20 points
Personal activities within the adult-use limits are exempt from criminal and civil punishment under Guam law. Public consumption carries a fine of up to $100; breaking the home-growing location or security rules while otherwise within the plant allowance carries up to $500. The law expressly preserves federal enforcement.[1][2]
Sharing & gifting · 10%5/10adds 5.0 of 10 points
Consumption · 10%3/10adds 3.0 of 10 points
Legal access · 10%0/10adds 0.0 of 10 points
The first cultivation operating permit went to Deep Green Guam on 24 June 2026, after February licence approval and inspections. The tax department said further steps were required before production and sales. The commercial rules distinguish a licence from an operating permit; a temporary testing exemption allows qualifying licensed flower sales while no qualifying laboratory is available.[4][5][6][7][8]
References
- Guam Legislature — Cannabis Industry Act, Public Law 35-5Signed 4 April 2019; Sections 8103–8105, 8108, 8110, 8112, 8115–8116; Section 19 immediate commencement
- Guam Judiciary — Cannabis Industry Act, compiled 5 May 2026Sections 8103–8105 and 8108(a)(7); source note on 2024 and 2026 testing amendments
- Guam Legislature — medical home-cultivation permits, Public Law 34-125Signed/effective 9 October 2018; Section 122530(a)–(l), especially plant limits, $15 annual permit, conditions and inspections
- Isla Public Media — Cannabis Control Board issues its first permit for a Guam cannabis business (24 June 2026)
- Pacific Island Times — first permit to operate a cannabis-growing facility (24 June 2026)
- Guam Judiciary — Cannabis Control Board regulations, compiled 19 June 2026Source note: effective 30 May 2022; Sections 9211–9212 (licence and operating permit), 9801 (testing and accreditation)
- Guam Legislature — temporary testing exemption, Public Law 37-116Signed 22 July 2024; Section 2 adds 8108(a)(7), Section 3 takes effect 90 days later and originally expires two years after enactment
- Guam Legislature — extension of testing exemption, Public Law 38-117Governor’s letter and Sections 1–3; signed/effective 8 April 2026; two-year period extended to five years
More context not part of the score
The board approved a cultivation licence for Pacific Root LLC, trading as Pacific Cultivation, and conditional approval for Guam Real Deal LLC, trading as Deep Green Guam, in February 2026. Deep Green Guam obtained the first operating permit in June, with further steps still needed before production and sales.[1][2][3]
Adult-use limits cover cannabis, concentrate and infused products containing up to 800 mg THC. The temporary testing exemption requires cannabis flower or buds to carry batch and harvest details, producer identification and an untested-contaminants warning, with cultivators’ sworn assurances about contaminants.[4][5][6]
Voters approved medical cannabis on 4 November 2014. Since October 2018, qualified patients or designated caregivers may apply for a $15 annual home-cultivation permit while no medical dispensary is operating, allowing six flowering and twelve juvenile plants. December 2018 amendments expressly protected compliant growers from arrest, prosecution and property forfeiture.[7][8][9]
The adult-use possession and unpaid-gifting rules apply to people aged 21 and over without a residency condition in those clauses. The verified June 2026 commercial milestone was a grower’s operating permit, with further steps required before production and sales.[4][2][3]
Adult-use legalisation did not erase penalties already incurred or proceedings begun before the law took effect. Employers may maintain workplace cannabis restrictions, and people controlling private property may prohibit possession, use or growing there.[4]
Taking cannabis into or out of Guam is a separate offence from possessing it, normally charged as smuggling or trafficking, with far heavier penalties. That holds almost everywhere, including between two places where cannabis is legal.
The rules that allow or tolerate small amounts inside Guam do not cover the border, an airport or the post.
A prescription or medical card from another country is generally not recognised. Travellers who need a cannabis-based medicine should ask Guam's embassy before travelling.[10]
General guidance that applies to almost every country, not a check of Guam's customs rules.
References
- Isla Public Media — Guam’s first cannabis establishment licenses approved (25 February 2026)
- Isla Public Media — Cannabis Control Board issues its first permit for a Guam cannabis business (24 June 2026)
- Pacific Island Times — first permit to operate a cannabis-growing facility (24 June 2026)
- Guam Legislature — Cannabis Industry Act, Public Law 35-5Signed 4 April 2019; Sections 8103–8105, 8108, 8110, 8112, 8115–8116; Section 19 immediate commencement
- Guam Legislature — temporary testing exemption, Public Law 37-116Signed 22 July 2024; Section 2 adds 8108(a)(7), Section 3 takes effect 90 days later and originally expires two years after enactment
- Guam Legislature — extension of testing exemption, Public Law 38-117Governor’s letter and Sections 1–3; signed/effective 8 April 2026; two-year period extended to five years
- Guam Legislature — voter-approved medical cannabis law, Public Law 32-237Cover: referendum approved 4 November 2014; original Sections 122403–122407
- Guam Legislature — medical home-cultivation permits, Public Law 34-125Signed/effective 9 October 2018; Section 122530(a)–(l), especially plant limits, $15 annual permit, conditions and inspections
- Guam Legislature — home-cultivation patient protections, Public Law 34-165Signed 28 December 2018; Sections 122504–122505
- International Narcotics Control Board — Travellers carrying medicines containing controlled substances
History 9 of 10 checked against a source
Score and entries per decade
43 today, from 20 before its first recorded change
This country's score Entries that moved the score Context only
Other law ✓ Article
Guam clears its first commercial cannabis grower to operate
The Cannabis Control Board unanimously approved an operating permit for Deep Green Guam after inspections and agency clearances. The grower had received conditional licence approval in February, seven years after adult use became legal. The tax department said further steps were required before production and sales could begin, while home cultivation continued to supply residents.
Easing ✓
Guam extends its cannabis testing exemption from two years to five
Guam extended the temporary cannabis laboratory-testing exemption from two years to five years after enactment of the original law. Governor Lou Leon Guerrero said no licensed laboratory had opened and the exemption was otherwise due to expire that July. Lawmakers also cited problems obtaining agency clearances; Deep Green Guam received the first cultivation operating permit in June.
Other law ✓
Guam approves its first two commercial cannabis growing licences
The Cannabis Control Board approved a cultivation licence for Pacific Root LLC, trading as Pacific Cultivation, and conditionally approved one for Guam Real Deal LLC, trading as Deep Green Guam. The businesses could then seek operating permits after years of delays implementing the 2019 adult-use law. Board chair Vanessa Williams Cruz described a learning curve for both applicants and government agencies.
Easing ✓ Article
Guam lets licensed cannabis sellers use a temporary testing exemption
Licensed cannabis businesses could use a temporary exemption from laboratory testing while Guam had no qualifying laboratory, with warning labels and growers’ sworn assurances about contaminants. Governor Lou Leon Guerrero signed the change to help businesses open after years of delays under the 2019 law. It took effect ninety days after signature and originally had a two-year expiry; lawmakers extended that window in 2026.
Other law ✓
Guam brings in licensing rules for cannabis businesses
Guam’s commercial-cannabis rules took effect by operation of law, setting separate stages for a business licence, inspection and an operating permit. The rules required cannabis to be tested for potency and safety before consumer sales and required recognised laboratory accreditation or certification. They followed the 2019 adult-use law; the absence of a qualifying laboratory later led lawmakers to create a temporary testing exemption.
Legalisation ✓ Article
Guam legalises adult use of cannabis
Adults 21 and over could possess one ounce of cannabis, eight grams of concentrate or infused products containing up to 800 mg THC, and give cannabis to another adult without payment. The law also allowed six plants per residence, with no more than three flowering, in an enclosed and locked growing area. Governor Lou Leon Guerrero signed it with immediate effect, citing patients’ long wait for access and the illicit market; business rules and operating permits followed over the next seven years.
2043+23 points
Medical ✓
Guam protects permitted medical growers from arrest and forfeiture
Guam expressly extended medical-cannabis protections to patients and caregivers using the home-growing permits introduced in October. The amendment counted permitted plants separately from the patient’s allowable cannabis amount and protected qualifying conduct from arrest, prosecution and property forfeiture. Sponsored by Dennis Rodriguez Jr. and Louise Muña, it also protected custody and visitation rights unless the conduct endangered a child.
Medical ✓ Article
Guam lets medical patients apply to grow cannabis at home
Qualified patients or their designated caregivers could apply for a $15 annual permit to grow up to six flowering and twelve juvenile plants while no medical dispensary was operating. Senator Louise Muña’s proposal required indoor, secured cultivation and medical certification. Governor Eddie Calvo called it an interim way to help people still waiting after the 2014 medical-cannabis vote.
Medical ✓ Article
Guam voters approve cannabis for patients with serious illnesses
Guam voters approved medical cannabis with 56.48% voting yes. The law protected qualifying patients and caregivers with medical certification and registration, and directed health officials to create rules for local production and distribution. Patients later gained a home-cultivation permit route in 2018 while dispensaries remained unavailable.
Ban ≈
Guam first restricts cannabis
No first law is recorded here for Guam. Its first restrictions on cannabis are assumed to date from between the 1925 Geneva convention, which put Indian hemp under international control, and the 1961 Single Convention, which required a ban on non-medical use.
10020−80 points
Datasets not part of the score
What other organisations publish about Guam, and where it stands among the countries each one covers. Every file is published in full on the sources page.
Use
UNODC
Cannabis use
11.5%of adults
LowestHigher than 90% of 196 countriesHighest12,000 people · median of surveyed countries in the region, computed here
Society
OpenAlex · 2019
Research on cannabis
6.5papers per million people
6.5 · 19976.5 · 20046.5 · 201919972019 LowestHigher than 88% of 176 countriesHighest1 papers in 2019
World Bank · 2025
Government effectiveness
77of 100
57 · 200446 · 200546 · 200646 · 200746 · 200846 · 200946 · 201046 · 201146 · 201246 · 201368 · 201468 · 201568 · 201668 · 201768 · 201868 · 201968 · 202068 · 202172 · 202272 · 202379 · 202477 · 202520042025 LowestHigher than 86% of 195 countriesHighestestimate 1.21 on a scale of −2.5 to 2.5 · 2025 · 68 in 2015
Pew Research Center · 2020
Most common religion
Christians
Christians · 2010Christians · 202020102020 the largest group · 2020
World Bank · 2017
Development indicators
80.5%use the internet
0% · 19900.3% · 19940.7% · 19951.4% · 19962.3% · 19974.5% · 19988.5% · 199916.1% · 200025.4% · 200131.2% · 200233.7% · 200336.2% · 200438.6% · 200543.9% · 200646.2% · 200748.4% · 200850.6% · 200954% · 201057.7% · 201161.5% · 201265.4% · 201369.3% · 201473.1% · 201577% · 201680.5% · 201719902017 LowestHigher than 49% of 195 countriesHighest94.1% live in towns · 9.4% aged 65+ · life expectancy 76.5 · 2017 · 16.1% in 2000 · 54% in 2010
Context
Our World in Data, World Bank · 2020
Population
153,836people in 2020
LowestHigher than 9% of 196 countriesHighest
All sources 11 cited in this profile
- Guam Legislature — voter-approved medical cannabis law, Public Law 32-237Cover: referendum approved 4 November 2014; original Sections 122403–122407
- Guam Legislature — medical home-cultivation permits, Public Law 34-125Signed/effective 9 October 2018; Section 122530(a)–(l), especially plant limits, $15 annual permit, conditions and inspections
- Guam Legislature — home-cultivation patient protections, Public Law 34-165Signed 28 December 2018; Sections 122504–122505
- Guam Legislature — Cannabis Industry Act, Public Law 35-5Signed 4 April 2019; Sections 8103–8105, 8108, 8110, 8112, 8115–8116; Section 19 immediate commencement
- Guam Judiciary — Cannabis Industry Act, compiled 5 May 2026Sections 8103–8105 and 8108(a)(7); source note on 2024 and 2026 testing amendments
- Guam Judiciary — Cannabis Control Board regulations, compiled 19 June 2026Source note: effective 30 May 2022; Sections 9211–9212 (licence and operating permit), 9801 (testing and accreditation)
- Guam Legislature — temporary testing exemption, Public Law 37-116Signed 22 July 2024; Section 2 adds 8108(a)(7), Section 3 takes effect 90 days later and originally expires two years after enactment
- Guam Legislature — extension of testing exemption, Public Law 38-117Governor’s letter and Sections 1–3; signed/effective 8 April 2026; two-year period extended to five years
- Isla Public Media — Guam’s first cannabis establishment licenses approved (25 February 2026)
- Isla Public Media — Cannabis Control Board issues its first permit for a Guam cannabis business (24 June 2026)
- Pacific Island Times — first permit to operate a cannabis-growing facility (24 June 2026)
Last updated: · 11 sources · history: 9 of 10 entries checked