HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	234
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the drug enforcement administration to initiate rescheduling proceedings to remove marijuana as a schedule i controlled substance.

     WHEREAS, our structure of government, known as federalism, allows for the distribution of power between the states and the federal government; and

WHEREAS, one of the powers that remains with the states is the authority to allow the medical use of specified controlled substances under certain circumstances; and

     WHEREAS, Congress enacted the Federal Controlled Substances Act with the clear intent of allowing for changes in the federal scheduling of controlled substances based on changes in state medical use; and

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii lawfully exercised its authority to accept the medical use of a controlled substance when it created the State's Medical Marijuana Program in 2000 and accepted the medical use of marijuana in treatment; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Health recognizes the medical use of marijuana pursuant to Hawaii law; and

     WHEREAS, the active ingredient in Marinol is a naturally occurring component of marijuana, and Marinol has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule 3 medication; and

     WHEREAS, the acceptance of the use of marijuana for medical purposes in the State means that marijuana does not satisfy the criteria for scheduling as a federal Schedule I controlled substance, because federal Schedule I requires that such substances have no currently accepted medical use in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, the current misclassification of marijuana as a federal Schedule I controlled substance is preventing the State from developing a state-regulated Medical Marijuana Program that can comply with federal law; and

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Medical Association adopted a formal resolution in 2010 recommending that marijuana be removed from federal Schedule I; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, the Senate concurring, that the Drug Enforcement Administration is hereby requested to follow the Federal Controlled Substances Act and initiate rescheduling proceedings to remove marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Drug Enforcement Administration address the inconsistencies between federal and state law relating to marijuana as a controlled substance; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Attorney General of the United States, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Governor of Hawaii, Director of Health, Director of Public Safety, and the State Attorney General.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Initiating Rescheduling Proceedings to Remove Marijuana from Schedule I.