STAND. COM. REP. NO. 264-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: H.B. No. 2594
                                     




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

Sir:

     Your Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and Public
Safety and Military Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2594
entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DANGEROUS DRUGS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to:

     1.   Remove the mandatory sentencing requirement for the
          offenses of Promoting a Dangerous Drug in the Second
          Degree and in the Third Degree; and

     2.   Require treatment alternatives when sentencing
          defendants to probation for these offenses.

     The Department of Public Safety, the Office of the Public
Defender, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Community
Alliance on Prisons, and concerned individuals testified in favor
of this measure.  The Honolulu Police Department, Department of
the Prosecuting Attorney for the the County of Honolulu and the
Department of the Prosecuting Attorney for the County of Maui
testified against this measure.

     Your Committee finds that:

     1.   Returning sentencing discretion to the courts regarding
          probation for offenders of Promoting a Dangerous Drug

 
 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 264-00
                                 Page 2

 
          in the Second Degree and in the Third Degree will
          provide for more meaningful sentencing options; and

     2.   Requiring treatment alternatives when sentencing
          defendants to probation for these offenses will provide
          better opportunities for first time drug offenders to
          take advantage of community resources to help combat
          their addiction.

     3.   The Department of the Prosecuting Attorney has
          indicated that their office exercises discretion in
          determining which defendants will be charged with
          promoting a methamphetamine drug which results in the
          imposition of the mandatory minimum sentence.  However,
          your Committee believes that such discretionary
          function belongs to the courts.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your
Committees on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and Public Safety
and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your
Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No.
2594 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to
the Committee on Finance.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committees on Judicary and
                                   Hawaiian Affairs and Public
                                   Safety and Military Affairs,
                                   


_____________________________      ______________________________
ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair            NESTOR R. GARCIA, Chair