STAND. COM. REP. NO. 562

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.B. No. 32
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Agriculture, to which was referred H.B.
No. 32 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to provide for the cultivation
of industrial hemp in the State by, among other things:

     (1)  Requiring the University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH-Hilo)
          to:  

          (A)  Study the feasibility and desirability of
               industrial hemp production in Hawaii; and 

          (B)  Obtain all federal and state permits needed to
               legally grow industrial hemp for fiber or seed
               production prior to importing any non-sterilized
               industrial hemp seeds capable of germinating in
               the State;

     (2)  Specifying that industrial hemp with a
          tetrahydrocannabinol concentration (dry weight) that
          does not exceed one percent, meets the standards set
          forth in Health Canada as of July 1, 1999, and is grown
          in compliance with federal and state permit conditions,
          shall not be construed as "marijuana" under the Uniform
          Controlled Substances Act and the Offenses Against
          Public Health and Morals Law; and

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 562
                                 Page 2

 
     (3)  Appropriating funds for UH-Hilo to carry out the
          purposes of the bill.

     The Libertarian Party of Hawaii and several individuals
submitted testimony in support of the measure.  The Dean of the
College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management
testified in favor of the measure with reservations.  The
Department of Agriculture, the State Attorney General, the Chair
and CEO of C. Brewer and Company, Limited, the Hawaii Island
Economic Development Board, and an individual submitted comments
on the measure.  Testimony in opposition to this bill was
received from the Hawaii County Police Department, the Honolulu
Police Department, the Hawaii County Office of the Prosecuting
Attorney, and numerous individuals.

     Upon careful consideration, your Committee has amended this
bill by deleting the substance and inserting new material, which:

     (1)  Simplifies the definition of "industrial hemp" as the
          schedule I substance marijuana as defined in section
          329-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS);

     (2)  Authorizes the State to allow privately-funded
          industrial hemp research to be conducted in Hawaii when
          the State department of public safety issues a
          controlled substance registration, and the U.S.
          Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration,
          issues a federally-controlled substance registration
          for research on the agronomic potential of industrial
          hemp;

     (3)  Authorizes the State Department of Safety, in
          cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Administration,
          to monitor all phases of the research; and

     (4)  Specifies that all agronomic data derived from the
          privately-funded industrial hemp research under this
          bill be deemed to be proprietary in nature and not
          subject to disclosure pursuant to chapter 92F, HRS.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Agriculture that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No.
32, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading
in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 32, H.D. 1, and be
referred to the Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and
Public Safety and Military Affairs.


 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 562
                                 Page 3

 
                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Agriculture,



                                   ______________________________
                                   FELIPE P. ABINSAY, JR., Chair