Bill Text: HI HCR204 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Marijuana
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-12 - Referred to HLT/HUS, JUD, FIN, referral sheet 33 [HCR204 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2014-HCR204-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
204 |
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TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
requesting the director of health and the director of human services to convene a working group to recommend whether marijuana should be retained as a schedule i controlled substance or rescheduled.
WHEREAS, marijuana is presently classified as a schedule I controlled substance under state law, indicating that it has the highest degree of danger or probable danger; and
WHEREAS, of the five schedules of controlled substances, only schedule I controlled substances, such as marijuana, may not be dispensed by practitioners, in other words, prescribed by physicians; and
WHEREAS, the designation of marijuana as a schedule I controlled substance is made by the recommendation of the Department of Public Safety, which is tasked with the duty to assess the degree of danger or probable danger of a controlled substance based upon statutorily determined factors; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Public Safety is assisted in its scheduling of controlled substances by the Hawaii Advisory Commission on Drug Abuse and Controlled Substances, which is an advisory commission placed within the Department of Health for administrative purposes, and makes recommendations regarding the addition, deletion, or rescheduling of all controlled substances; and
WHEREAS, regardless of its classification as a schedule I controlled substance, marijuana also has recognized medical benefits, and the laws governing the medical use of marijuana, which are currently administered by the Department of Public Safety, will be administered instead by the Department of Health beginning January 1, 2015; and
WHEREAS, the medical marijuana laws are consistent with the controlled substances law in not authorizing physicians to prescribe medical marijuana, but instead only authorizing them to certify that, for a particular patient, the potential benefits of the medical use of marijuana outweigh its health risks; and
WHEREAS, clearly, the medical marijuana laws would serve patients more effectively if medical marijuana could be prescribed by physicians; and
WHEREAS, in one of its resolutions, the Hawaii Medical Association recommends that medical marijuana should be "re-scheduled to a status that is either equal to or less restrictive than the Schedule III status of synthetic THC (Marinol), so as to reduce barriers to needed research and to humanely increase availability of cannabinoid medications to patients who may benefit"; and
WHEREAS, the Hawaii Medical Association maintains that medical marijuana fulfills none of the criteria for classification as a Schedule I controlled substance, because it is considered minimally addictive or non-addictive, has many well-known medical benefits, and has no known lethal dosage; and
WHEREAS, in a position paper issued in 2008, the American College of Physicians urged an evidence-based review of marijuana's status as a schedule I controlled substance to determine whether it should be reclassified to a different schedule, considering the scientific findings regarding marijuana's safety and efficacy in some clinical conditions as well as evidence on the health risks associated with marijuana consumption, particularly in its crude smoked form; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, the Senate concurring, that the Director of Health and the Director of Human Services are requested to convene a working group to recommend whether marijuana should be retained as a schedule I controlled substance or rescheduled; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Health and the Director of Human Services are requested to determine the size, composition, and leadership of the working group and to provide the working group with any necessary administrative, professional, technical, and clerical support; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group, through its chairperson, is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to convening of the Regular Session of 2015; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, if the working group is unable to develop a recommendation that is supported by at least two-thirds of its members, the working group is requested to include in its report a description of the differences of opinion among the working group and to attach a minority report to its report, if necessary; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health and the Director of Human Services.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Marijuana
