Hawaii: legalization of recreational cannabis fails

Last Friday, a bill to legalize recreational cannabis failed to pass the Health Committee the Senate. The Senate failed to consider it in time and, in effect, rejected it. This was the first time a bill to legalize recreational cannabis had advanced this far in the Hawaiian legislative process.

Close to the goal

Hawaii legalized medical cannabis very early on, in 2000—just four years after California. However, the state took more than 15 years to establish its network of dispensaries. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English has repeatedly introduced bills to fully legalize the industry, but none have ever passed.

The most recent version, however, had gotten off to a good start: it had been amended but approved last month by the Senate Judiciary Committee. This was the first time such a bill had been approved by a committee. The bill still had to pass through the Health Committee and the Rules and Procedures Committee before being considered in a plenary session by the Senate. However, the Health Committee did not schedule a vote on the matter. The deadline therefore expired on Friday, rendering the bill obsolete.

The choice of caution

According to the committee chair, Roz Baker, the goal is to avoid jeopardizing the fledgling medical cannabis dispensary program, which began sales just two years ago. She also believes that the federal government would be more inclined to crack down on recreational cannabis programs, a view shared by the territory’s governor, David Ige.

As for the Judiciary Committee, which had approved the bill, its chairman, Karl Rhoads, believes that prohibition has failed anyway and that the status quo is no longer acceptable. For House Majority Leader Della Au Belatti, the legalization of cannabis is inevitable, but it must be done in stages and with caution, while analyzing the impact this policy has had in other states. She nevertheless says she is already in favor of some form of decriminalization.

It is becoming increasingly rare to see initiatives to liberalize cannabis policies fail in the United States in 2019. Recently, the North Dakota House of Representatives rejected the decriminalization of cannabis. Meanwhile, a Vermont commission has approved a law to legalize the sale of cannabis. Recreational cannabis is also on track in New Mexico and New Hampshire. The vote by the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety the one we were talking about last time The vote took place: the proposal to legalize recreational cannabis was approved by a vote of 10 to 9.