STAND. COM. REP. NO. 905

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1429

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 1429, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Retroactively repeal the sunset date of the authorization for primary caregivers to cultivate medical cannabis for their qualifying patients;

(2) Increase the number of qualifying patients a primary caregiver is authorized to care for from one to five patients;

(3) Establish that each location used by primary caregivers to cultivate cannabis can be used to cultivate cannabis for not more than five qualifying patients;

(4) Extend the effective date of interim rules adopted by the Department of Health pursuant to section 329D-27, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to July 1, 2027; and

(5) Extend the sunset date for the exemption from civil service of personnel hired by or contracts entered into by the Department of Health pursuant to Act 241, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Akamai Cannabis Consulting, Aloha Green Apothecary, and two individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that cannabis can be an effective medical treatment for those suffering from severe pain, nausea, muscle spasms, seizures, and other incapacitating medical issues. Your Committee further finds that the Legislature's intent in establishing a dispensary system through Act 241, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, was to expand the treatment options available to patients suffering from debilitating medical conditions, their symptoms, and the side effects of certain treatments. However, it is inequitable that some patients, such as the elderly or disabled, are forced to rely entirely on the medical cannabis dispensary system because of their inability to grow their own cannabis. This measure will widen the treatment options available to qualifying patients by authorizing the patients' primary caregivers to grow a medical cannabis supply.

Your Committee notes that this measure will increase the number of qualifying patients a primary caregiver may serve from one to five. Your Committee further notes the concerns raised by the Department of Health, specifically that this increase in patients translates to an increase in the number of plants a single caregiver may cultivate from ten to fifty and in the amount of cannabis a caregiver can purchase and distribute to patients from four to twenty ounces. Your Committee believes that these increases may increase the risk of diversion and amendments to this measure are therefore necessary.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language authorizing the Department of Health to issue notices of violations, impose administrative penalties, and issue corrective action and cease-and-desist orders for violations of medical cannabis laws and procedures to request hearings or enforcement of administrative penalties, corrective action orders, or cease-and-desist orders; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1429, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1429, S.D. 2.

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

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KARL RHOADS, Chair