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A Hawaii Senate-passed bill to legalize marijuana has stalled out in the House for the year\u2014but advocates are shifting focus to 2024, hoping to enact the reform in the second half of the two-year legislative session.<\/p>\n
The legislation from Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D) cleared the Senate earlier this month<\/a>, and hopes were high that it\u2019d make it through the House as well. But a hearing wasn\u2019t scheduled before a deadline for bills that have been referred to three or more committees, meaning it will need to wait until next year to potentially advance further.<\/p>\n The session hasn\u2019t ended yet, so the bill won\u2019t have to go back to the starting line in the Senate next year. This could also give on-the-fence House lawmakers more time to discuss and refine the legislation, as Speaker Scott Saiki (D) previously said he\u2019d like to do over the summer.<\/p>\n In the Senate, the measure was amended in several important ways that advocates support<\/a>, including the addition of expungements language. Rep. Jeanne Kapela (D), who sponsored a separate legalization bill<\/a> that did not advance, said the amended proposal represents an \u201cincredible compromise.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Still, the inaction in the House comes as a disappointment for advocates who\u2019ve push for expedited passage of the reform in the Democratic-controlled legislature, and with a governor who backs legalization.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing but not surprising that House leadership has failed to consider moving adult-use cannabis legalization forward this year,\u201d Nikos Leverenz of the Drug Policy Forum on Hawaii told Marijuana Moment. \u201cImportant medical cannabis reforms like employment protections for patients have been recommended by working groups and task forces and not acted upon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully those in the House who oppose rational reforms will come forward and disclose why Hawaii residents deserve less than those in other states,\u201d said Leverenz, who served on a state task force that examined cannabis issues last year.<\/p>\n Similarly, DeVaughn Ward, senior legislative counsel at the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), told Marijuana Moment that advocates are \u201cdisheartened\u201d that the House \u201crefused to hold a hearing on a legalization bill that passed by a solid majority in the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMPP and other advocates will be counting on House leadership and committee chairs to keep their word and work on the bill in the off-session,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful 2024 will be the year Hawaii legalizes.\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin Sabet of the prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana, on the other hand, celebrated the fact that \u201clegalization will fail in Democratic-controlled Hawaii again this year.\u201d<\/p>\n BREAKING\u2014Marijuana legalization will fail in Democratic-controlled Hawaii again this year! Congrats to our coalition- press release and op-ed to follow.<\/p>\n \u2014 Kevin Sabet (@KevinSabet) March 22, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Here are some of the main components of\u00a0SB 669<\/a>, as amended:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Adults 21 and older would be allowed to purchase and possess up to 30 grams of cannabis and grow up to six plants, only three of which could be mature, for personal use. Adults could also gift marijuana between each other.<\/p>\n An independent Hawaii Cannabis Regulatory Authority would be established under the Department of Health to regulate the industry, as well as the existing medical marijuana program.<\/p>\n The market would initially launch through a pilot program whereby existing medical cannabis dispensaries would be able to obtain a dual license to serve both patients and adult consumers.<\/p>\n Marijuana products would be subject to a 10 percent tax, with revenue going to the state treasury. Cannabis businesses would also be able to deduct businesses expenses as part of the state income tax.<\/p>\n Under a substitute amendment that was adopted, a prior ban on cannabis vaping products was removed from the bill.<\/p>\n Language providing a pathway for expungements of certain prior marijuana convictions was added, much to the relief of activists who had criticized the omission of such provisions in the as-introduced version.<\/p>\n Civil penalties for unlicensed cannabis business activity were also added at the request of the state attorney general\u2019s office. Also, lawmakers adopted a requested change to add a track-and-trace requirement for marijuana products.<\/p>\n To mitigate the risk of creating a monopolized industry, the bill as revised sets caps on the number of marijuana businesses that individual entities could own. There are also new limits on the size of licensed cultivation facilities.<\/p>\n Adults could not consume marijuana any place where tobacco use is prohibited in the state. Also, condominiums could restrict cannabis smoking in the same way that they\u2019re able to do with tobacco.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2014 Legislators have worked to enact legalization in the Aloha State over several sessions, but while\u00a0the reform was approved in the Senate in 2021<\/a>, it stalled after failing to proceed past a House committee by a key deadline.<\/p>\n Advocates struggled under former Democratic governor, Dave Ige, who has resisted legalization, in part because he said he was reluctant to pass something that conflicts with federal law. That\u2019s despite the fact that Hawaii has a medical marijuana system that allows people to grow and sell cannabis in contravention of broad federal prohibition.<\/p>\n But now that Gov. Josh Green (D) has been sworn in, activists are feeling emboldened. He said in November that he\u2019d sign a bill to legalize cannabis for adults and already has ideas about how tax revenue from marijuana sales could be utilized.<\/p>\n Hawaii\u2019s Senate and House also approved a series of psychedelics reform bills this month, primarily focused on promoting research to set the state up to potentially allow regulated access down the line.<\/p>\n New York Governor Proposes Bill To Increase Enforcement Against Illicit Marijuana Operators As State Works License Retailers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Hawaii Won\u2019t Legalize Marijuana This Year Despite Senate Passage, But Advocates Look To 2024<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A Hawaii Senate-passed bill to legalize marijuana has stalled out in the House for the year\u2014but advocates are shifting focus to 2024, hoping to enact the reform in the second half of the two-year legislative session. The legislation from Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D) cleared the Senate earlier this month,Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":62977,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62976"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62978,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62976\/revisions\/62978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Hawaii Won\u2019t Legalize Marijuana This Year Despite Senate Passage, But Advocates Look To 2024<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"