Bill Text: HI HB2635 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Medical Marijuana; Debilitating Medical Condition

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-01 - Referred to HLT, JUD, referral sheet 5 [HB2635 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-HB2635-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2635
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to medical marijuana.

 

 

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

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that twenty-three states, plus the District of Columbia, allow medical marijuana for its residents.  Four states, plus the District of Columbia, have also legalized marijuana for recreational use.  Through the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015, Congress passed the "Rohrabacher-Farr" amendment, which prohibits the Department of Justice from expending any funds to enforce federal laws against the "use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana" in those states that have duly enacted laws for this purpose.

     The legislature further finds that Hawaii's medical marijuana law was passed in 2000.  During the 2015 regular session, Hawaii's legislature approved the formation of medical marijuana dispensaries that may begin operations in July 2016.  As Hawaii expands its medical marijuana program through the use of highly regulated and monitored dispensaries, more patients are expected to consider medical marijuana as a viable treatment, knowing that the medicine will be regulated and tested.

     The purpose of this Act is to expand the debilitating medical conditions for which medical marijuana may be authorized to be used to include arthritis, anxiety, insomnia, and stress.

     SECTION 2.  Section 329-121, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "debilitating medical condition" to read as follows:

     ""Debilitating medical condition" means:

     (1)  Cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or the treatment of these conditions;

     (2)  A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:

         (A)  Cachexia or wasting syndrome;

         (B)  Severe pain;

         (C)  Severe nausea;

         (D)  Seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy;

         (E)  Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease; [or]

         (F)  Post-traumatic stress disorder; [or]

         (G)  Arthritis;

         (H)  Anxiety;

         (I)  Insomnia; or

         (J)  Stress; or

     (3)  Any other medical condition approved by the department of health pursuant to administrative rules in response to a request from a physician or potentially qualifying patient."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2016.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Medical Marijuana; Debilitating Medical Condition

 

Description:

Allows arthritis, anxiety, insomnia, and stress to be included among the debilitating medical conditions for which medical marijuana may be authorized to be used.

 

 

 

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