Last week, lawmakers in Hawaii sent to the Governor a bill that could speed up the process of expunging records for those who want to remove marijuana offenses from their past.
Rep. David Tarnas’ (D) HB 132 will expedite the expungements of criminal records through a program pilot signed last year into law by Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat. The state Senate approved it last week on a 21–1 vote following passage without opposition in the House in late February.
According to advocacy group Last Prisoner Project, as of December last year the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center had examined 640 cases, issued 81 expunctions under the program’s pilot, with 112 cases pending and 414 still being reviewed.
LPP said in a recent post regarding HB 132 that a problem with the technical implementation has “made it more burdensome than we expected.”
The post states that records do not “consistently indicate” if the offense was for marijuana, or any other substance listed on Schedule V under state law. This lack of information forces HCJDC to search arrest records and court files manually, which is a significant slowdown.
HB 132 addresses this by removing any distinction made between marijuana and Schedule V drugs in the context of the program for expungement.
LPP stated that Green could sign the measure approved by the Legislature into law. This would eliminate the need for manual searches, and allow more people to receive relief without delay.
“Expunging non-conviction cannabis-related arrest records is not just about clearing data from government databases—it’s about removing barriers to employment, housing, and other opportunities that so many individuals struggle with due to the collateral consequences of their records,” the group wrote.
The governor approved the expungement pilot program legislation—HB 1596, also from Tarnas—last year. Hawaii County is the only county in Hawaii that has non-conviction marijuana arrests. It is also home to 14 percent of Hawaii’s residents. It is home to the Big Island. After Honolulu County, it is also the most populous county in Hawaii.
The original version of the law would have required state officials to remove tens thousands of arrests. You can also find out more about the following: Records of convictions for marijuana possession at low levels. But the Senate Judiciary Committee later amended the proposal, replacing the statewide plan with a pilot program in Hawaii County that would apply only to non-conviction arrest records.
Adrian Rocha of the LPP’s policy directorate urged Green to “soon sign HB 132 as law.”
Rocha told MEDCAN24 that the law would help “further streamline the state initiated expungement procedure created by HB1595 (Act 62), and ensure that thousands of cannabis related criminal records will be cleared.”
Rocha noted that since 2021 the LPP had been working in Hawai’i on retroactive compensation for people who were criminalized due to cannabis prohibition. The cannabis issue has been a major concern in this legislative session, and we appreciate the support of retroactive relief.
Rocha also expressed his gratitude to Tarnas, saying that they would continue to “use the appointment of LPP to the Clean Slate Task Force” to create a program to clear records based on these bills’ success.
The task force was established by Tarnas’ separate bill, signed into law last year by Green. Though the legislation did not explicitly mention cannabis, marijuana-related offenses were widely expected to be included in the task force’s discussions, and organizations—like LPP—named as members had been involved in past cannabis legislation.
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A pair of Senate Committees in Hawaii have advanced medical cannabis legislation that will allow doctors to recommend marijuana treatment for any condition they feel is appropriate.
The move to allow healthcare providers to recommend medical cannabis to patients for any condition they see fit is in line with a plan announced last year by Gov. Josh Green (D) to expand access to marijuana in light of the legislature’s failure to pass recreational legalization measures.
House Health Committee recently passed and amended a Senate approved bill for clinical research to be conducted on substances such as MDMA and psilocybin. Panelists adopted the Office of Wellness and Resilience’s suggestions for a few changes, including replacing a fund with a pilot two-year program.
In February, the Senate narrowly rejected a proposal to increase fivefold the maximum amount of cannabis a person can possess before they face criminal charges. The measure, if it became law in Hawaii, would have allowed the possession of 15 grams instead of the 3 grams currently decriminalized. Possession up to the 15-gram limit of marijuana was deemed a civil infraction punishable by $130.
The House Committee on Labor in January unanimously voted to advance legislation that would protect state-registered medical marijuana patients from discrimination in the workplace. The Senate has yet to take up the bill, HB 325.
Recently, another Senate bill that was intended to legalize marijuana for adults stalled. SB 1613 was still in its committee even though a deadline for the session had passed.
While advocates feel there’s sufficient support for the legalization proposal in the Senate, it’s widely believed that House lawmakers would ultimately scuttle the measure, as they did with a legalization companion bill, HB 1246.
Last session, a Senate-passed legalization bill also fizzled out in the House.
This past fall, regulators solicited proposals to assess the state’s current medical marijuana program—and also sought to estimate demand for recreational sales if the state eventually moves forward with adult-use legalization. Others interpreted the move to be a signal that regulators needed to get ready for the reform.
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Side Pocket Images. Photo by Chris Wallis.
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