Legalizing Medical Marijuana Could Free Up Federal Medicaid Dollars, American Samoa Official Says

Officials in American Samoa are considering legalizing medical marijuana to generate funds for a government health care program in the U.S. territory.

The proposal was originally floated by the jurisdiction’s Medicaid director, Sandra King Young, who said enacting the policy change could help fill a revenue gap that’s preventing the territory from accessing federal dollars for health care. American Samoa needs to raise about $30 million on its own to get $84 million in Medicaid funding from the federal government.

The “idea was legalizing medicinal marijuana and then using 100 percent of those taxes for medical, but I know that can be a controversial issue and, again, that is a decision for the legislature,” she said at a recent House Health Committee hearing, according to Samoa News. “Otherwise I don’t really know where else we can create new money.”
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