STAND. COM. REP. NO. 509-18

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2018

RE: H.B. No. 2742

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health & Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 2742 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to effectively regulate and administer medical cannabis patient registration and dispensary licensing and regulation by establishing the Office of Medical Cannabis Control and Regulation within the Department of Health.

The Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawaii and The Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii supported this measure. Maui Police Department, Patients Without Time, and several concerned individuals opposed this measure. The Department of Health and one concerned individual provided comments.

Your Committee notes that this measure extends the Department of Health's interim rulemaking authority for an additional five years beyond the current authorization period, which expires in 2020. Your Committee notes that the Department's authorization to adopt interim rules began in 2016. Your Committee finds that a nine-year period in which interim rules are in effect is an extraordinarily long period to operate an important program without final rules adopted in accordance with Chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion.

Should your Committee on Finance deliberate on this measure, your Committee respectfully requests that it insert an appropriation amount of $2,777,836.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health & Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2742, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2742, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health & Human Services,

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair