States that have both a medical marijuana law and have removed jail time for possessing small amounts of marijuana
Updates
Last update: April 10, 2024
Hawai’i legalization bill dies, while other bills continue advancing
In 2024, legalization got the furthest it has ever gotten in the Hawai’i Legislature, but it died just short of the finish line. Meanwhile, bills to expand decriminalization and begin state-initiated expungement have cleared both the House and Senate.
The Hawai’i Senate passed a legalization bill, SB 3335, SD 2, by a lopsided, 19-6, margin on March 6. For the first time, the bill received committee hearings in the House, where it passed three committees and two House floor votes. Unfortunately, it was never given a hearing in House Finance, where most members had voted against the bill on floor votes, and it has died for the year. The bill’s House sponsor, Rep. David Tarnas, is committed to continuing working on the bill and researching the issue in the interim, and advocates have made it clear they’ll continue the fight until legalization passes.
Meanwhile, the House and Senate have both passed different versions of three important bills to expand cannabis justice:
HB 1595 is a state-initiated expungement bill, which was amended in the Senate to create a pilot program in a single county for non-conviction cannabis possession arrests. The House-passed version would have applied to all low-level cannabis possession convictions and arrests statewide.
SB 2487 would expand decriminalization. The Senate-passed version increases the threshold to 15 grams. The House-passed version increases the threshold to an ounce or equivalent amounts of concentrates or edibles. SB 2487, HD 1 reduces the fine from $130 to $25, creates a penalty for public cannabis smoking, provides for a community service alternative, and downgrades possession of under two ounces to a petty misdemeanor.
Sign up for our email alerts and follow the Hawai’i Alliance for Cannabis Reform on Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date about these bills and the push for legalization rooted in justice and other cannabis justice bills.
In 2000, Hawai’i became the first state in the nation to pass a medical cannabis law through the legislature — rather than the citizen initiative process. Since then, the program has been revised and expanded, including to expand qualifying conditions, to provide protections for out-of-state patients, and to allow dispensaries.
While the law has inched forward over the years, it still falls far short in some areas. Unlike most other medical cannabis states, Hawaii’s medical cannabis patients can still be fired for testing positive for cannabis.
Hawaii’s Limited “Decriminalization” Law
In 2019, then-governor David Ige signed into law an extremely limited “decriminalization” law.
The law reduced the penalty for three grams of cannabis to a $130 civil fine, with no jail time. While the bill was a step forward, it remains far behind the times. The law covers the smallest amount of cannabis in the country and the fine is among the highest. Most other “decriminalization” (and legalization) laws apply to at least an ounce of cannabis, or 28.3 grams.
If the Senate concurs with the House-passed version of the bill — SB 2487, HD 1 — , it will at least bring Hawai’i in line with other states’ personal use quantity.
But Hawai’i voters want more comprehensive reform. A winter of 2023/2024 poll found 58% support for legalization. While more than half of Americans — including the entire West Coast— live in states where cannabis is legal for adults, Hawai’i remains an anomaly.
2024 is also an election year, so you’ll have an opportunity to elect new lawmakers before legalization is taken up again. (Or even run yourself.) Make sure you’re plugged in with our email alerts and social media for voter guides and ways to push progress forward.
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On Monday, April 22nd, 2024, in a shocking turn of events, the Hawai’i Senate defeated the House-passed version of SB 2487, which would have expanded the state’s paltry decriminalization law. The Senate had previously approved an earlier version of SB 2487, 24-1. It had also passed full legalization, which died in the House Finance Committee.
Sen. Angus McKelvey was one of the 14 senators to flip from “yes” on March 5’s vote to “no” yesterday. He claimed, “The Senate sent a very good, reasonable…