hawaii Bill to legalize marijuana introduced in legislature

Bill to legalize marijuana introduced in legislature - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

Bill to legalize marijuana introduced in legislature


Posted: Jan 18, 2013 9:15 PM <em class="wnDate">Saturday, January 19, 2013 2:15 AM EST</em>Updated: Jan 18, 2013 9:47 PM <em class="wnDate">Saturday, January 19, 2013 2:47 AM EST</em>
By Ben Gutierrez -










HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -\t\t\tHawaii could join Colorado and Washington as states that have legalized the use of marijuana by adults, under a measure introduced Friday by state House Speaker Joe Souki.
House Bill 150, also known as the Personal Use of Marijuana Act, would allow adults 21 years of age and older to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and to cultivate a limited number of marijuana plants in a secure and locked location. It also would allow for licensed and regulated marijuana retail stores, as well as licensed facilities to cultivate, manufacture and test marijuana.
Proponents of the measure say it would mean more revenue for the state, and save money. "If we legalize it, as Speaker Souki's bill would do, you would save another three million dollars in law enforcement costs. And if you taxed and regulated it, it could be eleven million dollars or even more in tax revenues," said Pamela Lichty of the Drug Policy Action Group of Hawaii.
The legislation is based on a measure approved by voters last November in Colorado, which legalized marijuana for adults. Washington state voters also approved legalizing pot and establishing systems in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol.
It also followed a recent poll that showed a majority of Hawaii residents now favor legalizing, regulating and taxing marijuana. "People don't think people should go to jail for it. They don't think it's that serious, or that it should be a crime, and on the other hand there's revenues to be realized, so I think that it's time to talk about it," said Lichty.

"If you're talking about regulating like alcohol, you're I think recognizing the reality that people use, that people will continue to use it, but you're taking it out of the hands of the criminal actors," she added.

Opponents said it would still have a social cost. "We know that marijuana has, or can cause physical and psychological harm, but it's often downplayed," said Alan Shinn, executive director of the Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii. He said that supporters often say, "'Oh, it's a harmless, organic weed, it's not going to hurt you. Come on, everybody uses it.' It's really not true."
The Honolulu Police Department has said that it is against the legalization, decriminalization and medicinal use of marijuana.

The measure does say that smoking pot in public, driving under the influence of marijuana, and use of marijuana by people under 21 would still be illegal. But youths would still be susceptible, said opponents.

"You might have older siblings in the house, uncles, aunties -- and they're going to become the drug dealers for our youth. And I think we don't want that," said Shinn.
Shinn also noted that the federal government could still reverse any local legislation. "The federal government has not come out with its opinion about legalization in Colorado or Washington, so right now, even if this bill was to pass, the federal government could close down these retail stores I think that are mentioned in the bill," he said.
Shinn also said smoking pot could still cost you a job. "For certain jobs, drug testing. So if you party on the weekend with pakalolo and you go in for your job interview and you test positive, you're not getting that job."

Both sides said the bill does open the conversation on the issue. "I think this shows a recognition that the time has really come to really discuss this in a serious manner, and no more jokes, and to see what benefits the state could realize from a sensible measure like this," said Lichty.
The Marijuana Policy Project, a marijuana policy reform organization based in Washington, D.C., said similar proposals are expected to be introduced this year by lawmakers in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Opponents and supporters also expect more bills on marijuana legalization or decriminalization to be introduced this year in the Hawaii legislature.
Related story: Hawaii residents support legalizing marijuana, survey finds

 

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Push of a new bill that would legalize marijuana in Hawaii | Local News - KITV Home

TV coverage of the announcement. We were the first state to make medical legal though legislation and not ballot initiative. Maybe we could be the first to get legalization though legislation. I’m hopeful but won’t be holding my breath.

 

1/22/2013 H Referred to HLT, JUD, FIN, referral sheet 2

 

I don’t believe there is any set date on each transaction, but I believe the dead line of the bill is the end of the legislation session. In the past Hawaii’s cannabis bills have gone back and forth between house and senate getting amended and reread up till the dead line but never get a final hearing. So I look like progress is being made but are always intentionally unscheduled for a final vote. That way they don’t have to be seen as voting yes or no. it’s a political move you don’t piss off the police or conservatives by voting yes and you don’t piss of the liberals or libertarians by voting no, the excuse is always we just ran out of time.

I’m hoping this time will be different as we now have two states with legal cannabis and that poll that came out saying over 58% of Hawaii wants it legal. But I’m not holding my breath.

 

Ya, pretty much this ^ I think it's mostly everyone is related to everyonehere, friends and their relatives are basically considered family. So doesn'thelp that you can't arrest someone without being connected to them in some wayor know someone directly connected to them. Also a lot of cops get nabbed forgrowing so there's also a whole inside thing going on there. Just recently likelast month I think they caught one of the department heads with a massive growop.

It's also the culture. while I think its restarted the native Hawaiiancommunity "the teens anyways" basically adopted the whole Rasta thingas a defacto culture, they basically adopted the Jamaica flag as a replacement for the Hawaiianflag, when I was in high school you would see people carrying a Jamaican flag or painting the Rasta colorson everything, they wore the beanies, listen to reggae, talk with the Jamaican accentect ect 90% of them have no idea of the origins or point of Rastafarianism otherthen they see the cannabis and want to be a part of the perceived culture i.e.there just in it for the pot. And in the end the vast majority of the people I knewwho dressed and acted the part dropped the whole thing when they went to collegeor work, I guess it's like a rite of passage of something here and with manywho were apart or directly exposed to it so when the subject of cannabis comeup they don't freak out it's a subject and culture they were used to.

 

Marijuana: Hawaii legislator introduces pot bill | Marijuana and Cannabis News | Toke of the Town

Marijuana: Hawaii legislator introduces pot bill

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\t\t\t\t\tBy William Breathes\t\t\t\t\t in Legislation, News
Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 12:00 pm

Could what is basically a carbon copy of Colorado's Amendment 64 help make the Aloha State the next one to pass laws legalizing the cultivation, sale and possession of marijuana in small amounts?
If Hawaii House Speaker Joseph Souki is successful, it just might.
Last week, Souki, a Democrat who has been in office since 1982, introduced House Bill 150. Like the amendment that Colorado voters just passed -- dubbed Amendment 64 -- Hawaii's bill would allow people 21 and over to possess and purchase up to an ounce of marijuana at a time, as well as paraphernalia. Like A64, the Hawaii bill would not create a user database and would only require a government-issued ID for purchase.

Currently, possession of an ounce or less in Hawaii is a misdemeanor charge carrying thirty days in jail and up to a $1,000 fine, while paraphernalia possession is a felony, with a punishment of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Hawaii does recognize medical marijuana, however, and patients are allowed to cultivate up to seven marijuana plants (only three can be in flower) and possess up to three ounces at a time.

Amendment 64 sponsor and newly hired Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Mason Tvert says he's unsure whether the Hawaii proposal's language was taken directly from Amendment 64, but a quick read-through pretty much confirms it. Calls to Souki were not immediately returned.

Hawaii state Rep. Joe Souki, recreational marijuana proponent and lei connoisseur.

Language in the Hawaii measure also allows for personal cultivation, but the number of plants is not yet set in stone; it's actually left blank in the most online versions of the bill.
Otherwise, the personal-cultivation section is nearly identical to Colorado's -- particularly the portion that calls for growing to take place in an enclosed, locked space. That means wonderful outdoor Hawaiian would either have to be grown indoors, in a greenhouse, or in some sort of locked cage. If you've ever been to Hawaii, you know how ridiculous that sounds, as the entire chain of islands is among the world's most perfect growing environments.

Other parts of Hawaii's HB 150 that resemble Amendment 64 include passages allowing the transfer of one ounce or less "without remuneration to a person who is 21 years of age or older," and language that prohibits open or public cannabis consumption.

In Hawaii, the county government is the foundational form of government office; there are no city governments. Two counties comprise single islands -- Hawaii and Oahu -- and the three remaining counties are groupings of smaller islands. The bill calls for all marijuana businesses to be handled by county governments, which also have the ability to ban marijuana businesses entirely -- as in Colorado.

According to a recent poll, 57 percent of Hawaii voters agree that marijuana should be regulated and small amounts made legal for adults over the age of 21.

"In Hawaii, as across the nation, arrests for marijuana possession are one of the most common ways that individuals get caught up in the criminal justice system, at great social and economic cost," says ACLU of Hawaii executive director Vanessa Chong. "These studies provide important, updated facts for the Hawaii community as we consider new directions."

This story originally ran in our sister blog, The Latest Word, out of Denver, Colorado.

 

they killed the bill.

 

Hawaii marijuana bill goes up in smoke - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

By ANITA HOFSCHNEIDER
Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) - A bill that would have legalized marijuana in Hawaii has died in the state House.

House judiciary committee Chairman Karl Rhoads said Tuesday that he decided to kill the bill after learning from House leadership that the initiative does not have enough votes to pass the House.

Key lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled House supported the measure, including the speaker and the majority leader.

The proposal would have legalized marijuana for recreational use for people aged 21 or older.

The initiative ignited an outpouring of public testimony that reflected sharply divided public opinion.

Law enforcement officials presented strong opposition to the proposal.

The attempt to legalize the marijuana comes just months after Colorado and Washington legalized the drug. Federal law still prohibits possession or distribution of marijuana.