Hawaii health officials are affirming their support for federal marijuana rescheduling—a policy change that the Trump administration is actively considering.
In the meantime, the state’s legislator who sponsored cannabis legalization in the latest session has been actively collecting input about how the law can be revised in order to pass it next year.
The Hawaii Department of Health, in a statement to The Honolulu Star-Advertiser on rescheduling cannabis, said that “it recognizes that its current classification as Schedule I, defined as a drug with no accepted medical purpose, is at odds with the increasing body of evidence as well as the fact that marijuana has remained largely legal for medical purposes both in Hawaii as well as many other States.”
DOH stated that a reclassification of cannabis to Schedule III could ease certain banking and insurance issues for the industry, as well as reduce barriers to research. Hawaii’s Medical Cannabis Laws and Program Requirements would remain unchanged if the state legislature does not amend the Hawaii law.
The statement stated that “DOH will continue to place patient safety, quality products, and public healthcare above all else, regardless of the federal classification for cannabis.”
It’s not clear at this point when President Donald Trump will make a final decision on federal rescheduling. The president, who endorsed rescheduling on the campaign trail, said last month that it would be decided within weeks—but there’s since been no public comments about that status of the reform.
Last week, the GOP-controlled House approved a budget bill which contained provisions that would prevent the Justice Department reclassifying marijuana.
On the other hand, state-level legalization measures have been consistently promoted in the legislature, but they’ve never made it to the final vote. Rep. David Tarnas, (D), the sponsor of a recently defeated reform measure, stated that voters are “very interested” in legalizing adult use.
“Statewide, I’d say the industry that is already legal—the hemp industry and the medical cannabis industry—would like to see better regulatory framework,” he said.
The lawmaker added that the challenge is “there are many skeptics in the legislature” who oppose legalization.
Anyone who wishes to purchase cannabis, whether for adult or recreational purposes, can do so. The main reason I support a framework that allows adult cannabis use is that quality is controlled and the consumers are assured that what they buy is exactly as described on the packaging and is free of contaminants.
On Wednesday, several other legislators also spoke out about the current cannabis legalization debate.
Jarrett Keohokalole told Island News this is “a very polarizing issue and both sides have strong opinions.”
Hawaii hasn’t yet been ready for legalization. Based on my observations of the past few years at the Legislature, I don’t think we will have enough support to push it through.
Rep. Adam Tam said, “There is a pathway forward to legalization.”
Rep. Adrian Tam said, “I support this because I’m trying to get it off the black market and regulate it so we can ensure it meets all health standards.” “The question is how do we regulate the market and what can be done to alleviate those fears that are on everybody’s minds right now?” said Representative Adrian Tam.
Brenton Awa said, for his part that, while a policy change might create jobs and generate tax revenues, the legislation filed so far leaves much to be desired.
He said, “I believe people need to put out better plans and better bills that focus on the people.”
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Hawaii regulators also launched a new series of medical marijuana courses to help educate doctors and other health care professionals as Hawaii’s cannabis program grows.
In addition to making it easier for patients to access marijuana, the underlying bill that was signed by Governor Kasich in June also includes a provision which advocates consider problematic.
Prior to sending the bill to Governor. Josh Green (D), Josh Green’s conference committee revised and added a clause allowing the Department of Health of the State to have access to medical marijuana records kept by doctors.
In May, Green signed separate legislation to allow medical marijuana caregivers to grow marijuana on behalf of up to five patients rather than the current one.
And in July, the governor signed another bill that establishes a number of new rules around hemp products in Hawaii, including a requirement that distributors and retailers obtain a registration from DOH.
Lawmakers also sent a bill to the governor this session that would help speed the expungement process for people hoping to clear their records of past marijuana-related offenses—a proposal Green signed into law in April.
The Tarnas measure, HB 132 is designed to accelerate expungements that are happening via a pilot law signed last year by Green. This measure will, in particular, remove the distinction between marijuana (and other Schedule V substances) and the expunction program.
Proponents of the bill said the wording currently in place forces officials of state to manually comb through thousands criminal records to find those eligible for expulsion under the program.
Hawaii’s Senate back in February narrowly defeated a separate proposal that would have increased fivefold the amount of cannabis that a person could possess without risk of criminal charges. The body voted 12–11 against the decriminalization measure, SB 319, from Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D).
The amount of cannabis that is decriminalized on Hawaii would be increased to 15 grams if the law had been passed. Possession up to the 15-gram limit of marijuana was a civil infraction punishable by $130.
The Senate’s bill to legalize marijuana for adults was stalled in the end. SB 1613 was unable to get out of committee in time for a legislative deadline.
While advocates felt there was sufficient support for the legalization proposal in the Senate, it’s widely believed that House lawmakers would have ultimately scuttled the measure, as they did in February with a legalization companion bill, HB 1246.
Last session, a Senate-passed legalization bill also fizzled out in the House.
This year’s House vote to stall the bill came just days after approval from a pair of committees at a joint hearing. The panels had received almost 300 pages of testimonies from various state agencies, advocacy groups and the general public.
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. The move was interpreted by some as an indication that the regulators were preparing for a possible reform.
Philip Steffan provided the photo.
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