STAND. COM. REP. NO. 158-20

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2020

RE: H.B. No. 2633

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 2633 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to amend the State's medical cannabis dispensary system law to:

(1) Authorize dispensaries to distribute medical cannabis propagules and cuttings to those individuals authorized to cultivate cannabis plants for medical use; and

(2) Impose quantity limits and quality requirements on the distributed propagules and cuttings.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Kush Hawai‘i, Maui Grown Therapies, Patients Without Time, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, and two individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Health.

Your Committee finds that patients and primary caregivers cultivating medical cannabis at a registered grow site under the State's medical cannabis registry program have no legal means of obtaining safe, laboratory-tested genetic material from which to propagate their plants. In other words, patients have no means to legally buy the material to grow cannabis. Existing law often requires patients or their primary caregivers to obtain propagules, cuttings, or other cannabis genetic material from the illicit market. Amending the State's medical cannabis dispensary system law will allow qualifying patients to access safe and quality-assured medical cannabis and medical cannabis products.

Your Committee notes the concerns raised in testimony by the Department of Health that this measure does not appear to comport with the Legislature's intent in establishing the statewide dispensary system. The Department of Health also expressed concerns that this measure could potentially enable patients to exceed their statutory limit of medical cannabis and risks encouraging the illegal cannabis market.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2633, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2633, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair