States that have both a medical marijuana law and have removed jail time for possessing small amounts of marijuana
Updates
Last update: March 12, 2024
First-ever Hawai’i House committee hearing scheduled on legalization!
The Hawai’i Senate passed a legalization bill (SB 3335, SD 2) by a lopsided, 19-6, margin on March 6, 2024. The Senate passed legalization bills twice before, but they never even got a hearing in the House.
This year, that finally changed. The House Judiciary and Agriculture committees will hold a hearing on Wednesday March 13. While this is historic progress, we need to mobilize to make sure legalization gets past the finish line.
We’re reaching out to lawmakers and allies to not only pass legalization and regulation, but to urge them to improve the bill to ensure it is rooted in justice and equity. Add your voice to the call for equitable legalization.
During the fall of 2023, the office of Hawai’i Attorney General Anne Lopez crafted a 300+ page bill that has been introduced as a starting point for legalization — SB 3335/HB 2600. While we’re pleased the bill includes home cultivation, MPP and our allies in the Hawai’i Alliance for Cannabis Reform are concerned the bill is too weak on social equity and reparative justice, while including alarming re-criminalization and investment in law enforcement.
We’re also advocating for companion legislation to provide for automatic expungement of cannabis records (HB 1595) and to expand Hawaii’s decriminalization law SB 2487 — which currently only applies to three grams. SB 3335/HB 2600 wouldn’t legalize possession until January 1, 2026, so even if it passes, the decrim expansion bills are crucial interim steps.
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. Most Hawaiians want cannabis to be legal for adults. And the law covers the smallest amount of cannabis in the country. Most other “decriminalization” laws apply to at least an ounce of cannabis, or 28.3 grams.
SB 2487. which has passed the Senate, would also expand decriminalization to 15 grams.
Sign up for our email alerts and follow the coalition on social media to keep up to date about these bills and the push for legalization rooted in justice.
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