Hawaii bill to legalize recreational marijuana stalls

Apr. 3—The latest effort to legalize recreational marijuana for adults appears dead once again after House Finance Chair Kyle Yamashita declined to hold a vote on Senate Bill 3335.

The latest effort to legalize recreational marijuana for adults appears dead once again after House Finance Chair Kyle Yamashita declined to hold a vote on Senate Bill 3335.

"The path to legalizing adult-use cannabis has been a deeply divisive issue, "

Yamashita (D, Pukalani-­Makawao-Ulupalakua ) said in a statement Tuesday. "This year marked its furthest progression, with SB 3335 narrowly passing its second reading. Due to numerous concerns regarding the implementation of the bill, the House has decided against further deliberation in the House Finance Committee. This decision is strengthened by the prevailing 'no' votes from committee members expressed on the House floor."

He called the current legislative session "an abnormally fiscally challenging year " and said the priority remains meeting the financial challenges to helping Maui following the deadly Aug. 8 wildfires.

"Ensuring the recovery of our communities continues to come at an extraordinary cost to the state budget, and the full cost of implementing the legalization of adult-use cannabis is unknown, "

Yamashita said.

House Speaker Scott Saiki said in a statement, "In hearing the overwhelming testimony and serious concerns from members of Hawai 'i's law enforcement industry, this bill requires further consideration of the impact legislation will have on our children, economy, and overall well-being."

This year's effort brought former Gov. Linda Lingle to the state Capitol to testify before the Legislature for the first time since leaving office in 2010.

Lingle, a Republican who served her first of two gubernatorial terms beginning in 2002, called SB 3335 "a very dangerous bill " during a hearing last month of the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce.

Gov. Josh Green supports adult recreational marijuana, but legislators this session heard wildly conflicting projections on the pros and cons based on the experiences of states that have legalized it.

The March hearing of the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce on SB 3335 lasted three hours and also included testimony from Prosecutor Steve Alm, law enforcement representatives and some Republican legislators who said they worried about public safety, impaired driving, Hawaii's black market, tourism (especially Japanese tourism ), addiction and harms to Hawaii's children, youth and young adults.

There have been differing projections from supporters and critics about the tax benefits and whether legal recreational marijuana would attract or deter tourists.

Alm started extensively researching data from other states last session and told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Tuesday that the negative impacts are clear, including increased traffic fatalities, mental health issues, the influence of drug cartels and higher usage by juveniles consuming more potent marijuana compared to a generation ago.

"All the medical professionals were totally against it, " Alm said. "Why people would think Hawaii would be exempt from it is just not realistic."

So, Alm said, "I was really glad to hear that Chair Yamashita announced that it's not going to go forward this year. ... It got further this time and I'm expecting it to come back."

Nikos Leverenz of the Drug Policy Forum has been advocating for legalized recreational use in California and Hawaii for over 20 years and told the Star-Advertiser that "it's unfortunate that a few legislators on the Finance Committee are effectively blocking resources to rural communities and the rest of the state."

Based on New Mexico's experience, Leverenz projected that Hawaii could generate "tens of millions in tax revenue."

Support for legalized marijuana has seen "a dramatic shift " in Hawaii in just the past five years and even has support "in red state Ohio, " he said.

In an election year, Leverenz said, "it really just came down to a few freshman members on the Finance Committee who were concerned about their viability. My hope is that the Legislature will revisit this issue next year."

Ahead of the legislative session that began in January, political analyst Neal Milner told the Star-Advertiser that the perennial efforts to legalize recreational marijuana and some form of gambling would die again this year.

He said on Tuesday that Yamashita's reference to needing to focus on helping Maui and Saiki's statement referencing law enforcement concerns "are both legitimate. To say they have more important things on their plate, that's a standard kind of justification and it's got a lot of power."

"But what also has to be said is this is a fairly typical way that the Legislature deals with controversial issues, " Milner said. "Why wouldn't they hold the vote on it to see where people stand ? The Senate passed it by a pretty close vote, and any close votes in a Legislature that's over 90 % one party is a red flag because they're not used to dealing with close votes, and they don't like to vote on controversial issues."