Bill Text: HI HB205 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To Marijuana.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-01-23 - Referred to JUD, FIN, referral sheet 1 [HB205 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2017-HB205-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	205
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to marijuana.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that attitudes regarding the recreational use of marijuana have shifted significantly over the past decade.  Hawaii no longer has an absolute ban on marijuana use: the State established a medical marijuana program in 2000 and the program's administration has been successful; more recently, the State created a medical marijuana dispensary system, which will soon be underway.  Other jurisdictions have also begun to relax prohibitions on marijuana; to date, recreational marijuana use has been legalized in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia.  

     The legislature further finds that allowing personal use of a limited quantity of marijuana by persons who are twenty-one years of age or older, and taxing marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol, would ease the current strain on law enforcement resources, as well as provide an additional revenue source.  Law enforcement resources could be redirected to more serious threats to public safety such as violent offenders, and income from black market enterprises could be redirected to legitimate businesses and new employers who will furnish tax revenues to the State.

     The purpose of this Act is to promote the interest of health and public safety by regulating marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol such that:

     (1)  Individuals must submit proof of age before purchasing marijuana;

     (2)  Selling, distributing, or transferring marijuana to minors and other individuals under the age of twenty-one remains illegal;

     (3)  Driving under the influence of marijuana remains illegal;

     (4)  Legitimate, taxpaying businesses, and not criminal actors, will conduct sales of marijuana; and

     (5)  Marijuana will be labeled and subject to additional requirements to ensure that consumers are informed and protected.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 329, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Part   .  Personal use of marijuana

     §329-A  Definitions.  As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:

     "Consumer" means a person twenty-one years of age or older who purchases marijuana or marijuana products for personal use by persons twenty-one years of age or older, but not for resale to others.

     "Department" means the department of taxation.

     "Marijuana accessories" means any equipment, products, or materials of any kind that are used, intended for use, or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, composting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, vaporizing, or containing marijuana, or for ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing marijuana into the human body.

     "Marijuana cultivation facility" means an entity licensed to cultivate, prepare, and package marijuana and sell marijuana to retail marijuana stores, marijuana product manufacturing facilities, and other marijuana cultivation facilities, but not to consumers.

     "Marijuana establishment" means a marijuana cultivation facility, a marijuana testing facility, a marijuana product manufacturing facility, or a retail marijuana store.

     "Marijuana product manufacturing facility" means an entity licensed to purchase marijuana; manufacture, prepare, and package marijuana products; and sell marijuana and marijuana products to other marijuana product manufacturing facilities and to retail marijuana stores, but not to consumers.

     "Marijuana products" means concentrated marijuana products and marijuana products that consist of marijuana and other ingredients and are intended for use or consumption, including edible products, ointments, and tinctures.

     "Marijuana testing facility" means an entity licensed to analyze and certify the safety and potency of marijuana.

     "Retail marijuana store" means an entity licensed to purchase marijuana from marijuana cultivation facilities and marijuana and marijuana products from marijuana product manufacturing facilities and to sell marijuana and marijuana products to consumers.

     §329-B  Personal use of marijuana.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following acts shall be lawful and shall not be an offense or a basis for seizure or forfeiture of assets for persons twenty-one years of age or older:

     (1)  Possessing, using, displaying, purchasing, or transporting marijuana accessories or one ounce or less of marijuana;

     (2)  Possessing, growing, processing, or transporting no more than five marijuana plants, and possession of the marijuana produced by the plants on the premises where the plants were grown, provided that the growing takes place in a secured space, is not conducted openly or publicly, and is not made available for sale;

     (3)  Transfer of one ounce or less of marijuana without remuneration to a person who is twenty-one years of age or older;

     (4)  Consumption of marijuana, provided that nothing in this section shall permit consumption that is conducted openly and publicly or in a manner that endangers others; and

     (5)  Assisting another person who is twenty-one years of age or older in committing any of the acts described in this section.

     §329-C  Lawful operation of marijuana establishments.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following acts shall be lawful and shall not be an offense or a basis for seizure or forfeiture of assets for persons twenty-one years of age or older:

     (1)  Manufacture, possession, or purchase of marijuana accessories or the sale of marijuana accessories to a person who is twenty-one years of age or older;

     (2)  Possessing, displaying, or transporting marijuana or marijuana products; purchase of marijuana from a marijuana cultivation facility; purchase of marijuana or marijuana products from a marijuana product manufacturing facility; or sale of marijuana or marijuana products to consumers, if the person conducting the activities described in this paragraph has obtained a current, valid license to operate a retail marijuana store or is acting in the person's capacity as an owner, employee, or agent of a licensed retail marijuana store;

     (3)  Cultivating, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, displaying, or possessing marijuana; delivery or transfer of marijuana to a marijuana testing facility; selling marijuana to a marijuana cultivation facility, a marijuana product manufacturing facility, or a retail marijuana store; or the purchase of marijuana from a marijuana cultivation facility, if the person conducting the activities described in this paragraph has obtained a current, valid license to operate a marijuana cultivation facility or is acting in the person's capacity as an owner, employee, or agent of a licensed marijuana cultivation facility;

     (4)  Packaging, processing, transporting, manufacturing, displaying, or possessing marijuana or marijuana products; delivery or transfer of marijuana or marijuana products to a marijuana testing facility; selling marijuana or marijuana products to a retail marijuana store or a marijuana product manufacturing facility; the purchase of marijuana from a marijuana cultivation facility; or the purchase of marijuana or marijuana products from a marijuana product manufacturing facility, if the person conducting the activities described in this paragraph has obtained a current, valid license to operate a marijuana product manufacturing facility or is acting in the person's capacity as an owner, employee, or agent of a licensed marijuana product manufacturing facility;

     (5)  Possessing, cultivating, processing, repackaging, storing, transporting, displaying, transferring, or delivering marijuana or marijuana products if the person has obtained a current, valid license to operate a marijuana testing facility or is acting in the person's capacity as an owner, employee, or agent of a licensed marijuana testing facility; and

     (6)  Leasing or otherwise allowing the use of property owned, occupied, or controlled by any person, corporation, or other entity for any of the activities conducted lawfully in accordance with this section.

     §329-D  Department rules; marijuana establishments.  (a)  Not later than one hundred twenty days after the effective date of this part, the department shall adopt rules under chapter 91 necessary to implement this part.  The rules shall not prohibit the operation of marijuana establishments, either expressly or through rules that make their operation unreasonably impracticable.  As used in this subsection, "unreasonably impracticable" means that the measures necessary to comply with this part require such a high investment of risk, money, time, or any other resource or asset that the operation of a marijuana establishment is not worthy of being carried out in practice by a reasonably prudent businessperson.  The rules shall include:

     (1)  Procedures for the issuance, renewal, suspension, and revocation of a license to operate a marijuana establishment;

     (2)  A schedule of application, licensing, and renewal fees;

     (3)  Qualifications for licensure that are directly and demonstrably related to the operation of a marijuana establishment;

     (4)  Security requirements for marijuana establishments;

     (5)  Requirements to prevent the sale or diversion of marijuana and marijuana products to persons under the age of twenty-one;

     (6)  Labeling requirements for marijuana and marijuana products sold or distributed by a marijuana establishment;

     (7)  Health and safety requirements and standards for the manufacture of marijuana products and the cultivation of marijuana;

     (8)  Restrictions on the advertising and display of marijuana and marijuana products; and

     (9)  Civil penalties for the failure to comply with any rule adopted pursuant to this section.

     (b)  For the purpose of ensuring that individual privacy is protected, notwithstanding subsection (a), the department shall not require a consumer to provide a retail marijuana store with personal information other than government-issued identification to determine the consumer's age, and a retail marijuana store shall not be required to acquire and record personal information about consumers other than information typically acquired in a financial transaction conducted at a retail liquor store.

     §329-E  Taxation of marijuana transactions.  (a)  There shall be an excise tax at a rate of fifteen per cent to be levied upon the proceeds of marijuana sold or otherwise transferred by a marijuana cultivation facility to a marijuana product manufacturing facility or to a retail marijuana store.

     (b)  The department shall establish procedures for the collection of all taxes levied under this section.

     §329-F  Marijuana establishments; licenses; procedures.  Each application for an annual license to operate a marijuana establishment shall be submitted to the department.  The department shall:

     (1)  Begin accepting and processing applications by July 1, 2018;

     (2)  Issue an annual license to the applicant between forty-five and ninety days after receipt of an application unless the department finds the applicant is not in compliance with rules adopted pursuant to section 329-D; and

     (3)  Upon denial of an application, notify the applicant in writing of the specific reason for its denial.

     §329-G  Employers; driving; minors; control of property.  Nothing in this part shall be construed to:

     (1)  Require an employer to permit or accommodate the use, consumption, possession, transfer, display, transportation, sale, or growing of marijuana in the workplace or to affect the ability of employers to have policies restricting the use of marijuana by employees;

     (2)  Supersede any law relating to driving under the influence of marijuana or driving while impaired by marijuana;

     (3)  Permit the transfer of marijuana, with or without remuneration, to a person under the age of twenty-one or to allow a person under the age of twenty-one to purchase, possess, use, transport, grow, or consume marijuana; or

     (4)  Prohibit a person, employer, school, hospital, detention facility, corporation, or any other entity who occupies, owns, or controls property from prohibiting or otherwise regulating the possession, consumption, use, display, transfer, distribution, sale, transportation, or growing of marijuana on or in that property.

     §329-H  Medical use of marijuana unaffected.  Nothing in this part shall be construed to limit any privileges or rights of a medical marijuana qualifying patient, primary caregiver, or registered entity as provided in part IX of this chapter.

     §329-I  Severability; conflicting provisions.  All provisions of this part are severable and, except where otherwise indicated, shall supersede conflicting state statutory, local charter, ordinance, or resolution, and other state and local provisions."

     SECTION 3.  Section 712-1240.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (2) to read as follows:

     "(2)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for any marijuana-related offense defined in this part that the person who possessed or distributed the marijuana was authorized to possess or distribute the marijuana for medical purposes pursuant to part IX of chapter 329[.] or acted in accordance with part     of that chapter."

     SECTION 4.  In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

     SECTION 5.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2017.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Personal Use of Marijuana; Licenses to Cultivate, Manufacture, Test, or Sell Marijuana

 

Description:

Authorizes persons 21 years of age or older to consume or possess limited amounts of marijuana for personal use.  Provides for the licensing of marijuana cultivation facilities, product manufacturing facilities, safety testing facilities, and retail stores.  Applies an excise tax on transactions between marijuana establishments.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.