STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2133

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2787

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Water, Land, and Agriculture and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2787 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INDUSTRIAL HEMP,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Legalize industrial hemp as an agricultural product; and

     (2)  Promote research and development of markets for industrial hemp.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture, University of Hawai‘i System, Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, Kihei Community Association, Hawai‘i Center for Food Safety, The Optimum Living Alliance, We Are One, Wear on Earth-Hawaii, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, Maui Venture Consulting LLC, and eighty-three individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the City and County of Honolulu Police Department and one individual.

     Your Committees find that industrial hemp is well suited to Hawaii's climate and soil and can grow to over ten feet in a short period of time with little water and no pesticides.  According to estimates by the Hemp Industries Association, retail sales of industrial hemp products grew to over $620,000,000 annually in 2014.  Industrial hemp has over 25,000 uses, including food, fiber, and fuel products, and has high potential to contribute to the future viability of the State's agricultural industry.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion, and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, and Agriculture and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2787, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2787, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water, Land, and Agriculture and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair