STAND. COM. REP. NO. 282-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: H.B. No. 1976
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred H.B.
No. 1976 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HIGHWAY SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received, is to establish the
offense of driving after the ingestion of illegal drugs for
persons under age twenty-one; and to establish implied consent
provisions for persons driving with illegal drugs in their blood
or urine.

     Your Committee finds that the current law which provides the
definition of "drug" does not clearly encompass over-the-counter
drugs.  Some over-the-counter drugs impair a person's ability to
drive.

     Testimony in support of this bill was received from Mothers
Against Drunk Driving.  Testimonies in opposition to this bill
were received from the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of
the City and County of Honolulu, the Office of the Public
Defender, and the Honolulu Police Department.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 282-00
                                 Page 2

 
     Your Committee has amended the bill by deleting its
substance and amending it to elaborate on the definition of drug
by amending chapter 291-7, HRS.  The term drug as proposed by
this amended bill includes any substance that requires a United
States Food and Drug Administration warning label as well as any
intoxicating compound as defined in section 712-1240, in addition
to the previous law that defined drug as any controlled substance
defined in schedules I through IV of chapter 329. 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No.
1976, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1976, H.D. 1, and
be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

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



                                   ______________________________
                                   KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair