Maui Now
Two Senate committees voted Thursday to recommend passage of a bill to legalize adult personal use of cannabis Hawaiʻi and establish taxes on its retail sale and medical use.
Senate Bill 1613 Senate Draft 1 is the companion bill to House Bill 1246 House Draft 1, which was initially recommended for passage by the House committees on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs and Agriculture & Food Systems on Feb. 4 and then pulled back to committee by House leadership on Feb. 6.
On Thursday, the Health and Human Services and Judiciary committees recommended Senate passage on second reading and referral to two other committees for further consideration.
Kula resident Elizabeth Winternitz, testifying as a kūpuna medical cannabis beneficiary, was in favor of legalizing adult use of marijuana.
“Cannabis prohibition laws do not make our communities safer,” she said. “They waste taxpayer dollars, perpetuate racial disparities in our criminal justice system, and lock people up unnecessarily in our overcrowded jails and prisons.”
