STAND. COM. REP. NO. 358

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1458

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Health and Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1458 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a licensing system under the Department of Health for the distribution of medical marijuana by:

 

     (1)  Creating three classes of medical marijuana licenses: class 1 medical marijuana compassion center license for the sale of medical marijuana to qualified patients; class 2 medical marijuana cultivation license; and class 3 medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing license;

 

     (2)  Specifying requirements for each class;

 

     (3)  Making medical marijuana sales subject to income and excise taxes;

 

     (4)  Establishing a special marijuana sales tax on sales of medical marijuana; and

 

     (5)  Establishing a fee for issuance and renewal of a license.

 

     The intent of this measure is to create a fully integrated cultivation and distribution program that will safely and more effectively regulate access to medical marijuana and generate jobs and revenue to provide resources for other state programs.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Americans For Safe Access; and fifteen private citizens.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Health; the Department of Public Safety; Office of the Prosecuting Attorney, City and County of Honolulu; the Police Department, County of Maui; Save Our Society From Drugs; and one private citizen.

 

     Your Committees acknowledge that the Medical Cannabis Working Group recommends the creation of a state regulated medical marijuana distribution system so that qualifying patients have safe and reliable access to medical marijuana.  Testimony received on this measure suggests that the measure may be improved by imposing increased safety standards for licensees with respect to the licensee's initial licensing and ongoing operational standards.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

(1)  Inserting unspecified amounts for the licensing fee of each of the three classes of licenses;

 

(2)  Deleting references to a quarterly special sales tax;

 

(3)  Specifying the number of class 1 licensees to be allocated to the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, Molokai, and Oahu;

 

(4)  Clarifying that the business premises of class 1 and class 2 licensees are subject to unannounced inspections by the Department of Health;

 

(5)  Requiring that all licensees install video surveillance cameras that operate twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, and are accessible to law enforcement agencies;

 

     (6)  Clarifying that no class 1 medical marijuana compassion center licensee, class 2 medical marijuana cultivation licensee, or class 3 medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing licensee shall be located within five hundred feet of any day care facility, public or private school, or another class 1, class 2, or class 3 licensee facility; and no licensee of any class shall be located within two miles of any other licensee of any class;

 

     (7)  Extending from five to ten preceding years the time during which a person who has had a felony drug conviction shall be ineligible to obtain or renew a license;

 

(8)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to allow for further discussion; and

 

(9)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1458, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1458, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs,

 

____________________________

WILL ESPERO, Chair

 

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, M.D., Chair