CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 193

Honolulu, Hawaii

                 , 2017

RE:    H.B. No. 1488

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

       C.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

     Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 1488, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

     The purpose of this measure is to amend and clarify the regulatory framework for the use of medical marijuana and the implementation and operation of the medical marijuana dispensary system by:

     (1)  Permitting qualifying patients and their primary caregivers to possess additional medical marijuana seedlings as part of an adequate supply;

     (2)  Specifying additional debilitating medical conditions that qualifying patients may treat with medical marijuana;

     (3)  Amending requirements for and access to laboratory testing to ensure product and patient safety;

     (4)  Amending certain dates and deadlines in existing law to address delays in implementing the dispensary system;

     (5)  Authorizing the Department of Health to implement an alternate, backup information tracking system and requiring the Department to report information and recommendations to the Legislative Oversight Working Group; and

     (6)  Establishing requirements for retention of video security recordings for production centers and dispensaries.

     Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Increasing the number of plants at any stage of growth that qualifying patients and their primary caregivers may possess instead of authorizing possession of additional seedlings only;

     (2)  Including rheumatoid arthritis as a qualifying condition for use of medical marijuana and deleting autism and arthritis of an unspecified type;

     (3)  Clarifying restrictions on the interisland transportation of medical marijuana for laboratory testing purposes;

     (4)  Authorizing qualifying patients to continue to obtain medical marijuana from a source other than a dispensary or by self-cultivation through December 31, 2023;

     (5)  Clarifying the Department of Health's authority to permit licenses to cultivate additional plants at a production center and to operate an additional retail dispensary location;

     (6)  Clarifying that production centers and retail dispensing locations shall retain video security recordings for at least fifty days;

     (7)  Amending restrictions on access to dispensary facilities to permit paratransit and assistive service providers to provide assistance required by a qualifying patient to access the dispensary;

     (8)  Amending submission deadline for the Department of Health's report to the Working Group;

     (9)  Changing its effective date to June 29, 2017; and

     (10) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1488, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1488, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER Chair	____________________________ DELLA AU BELATTI Co-Chair
____________________________ GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN Co-Chair	____________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA Co-Chair
____________________________ J. KALANI ENGLISH Co-Chair	____________________________ TY J.K. CULLEN Co-Chair