Bill Text: HI HCR97 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Driving under the influence of marijuana. Testing.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-04-01 - The committee(s) on HLT recommend(s) that the measure be deferred. [HCR97 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-HCR97-Introduced.html

---

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	97
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of health to conduct a study to establish a reliable scientific threshold and testing protocol for determining whether a person cannot safely operate a motor vehicle due to being under the influence of marijuana.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, the protection of public safety demands that the safe and prudent operation of motor vehicles be of the utmost importance; and

 

WHEREAS, the use of marijuana can impair the ability of a person to safely operate a motor vehicle; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 291E-61(a)(2), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), provides that a person is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle "while under the influence of any drug that impairs the person's ability to operate the vehicle in a careful and prudent manner"; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 291E-11(a), HRS, provides that any person who "operates a vehicle upon a public way, street, road, or highway or on or in the waters of the State shall be deemed to have given consent . . . to a test or tests approved by the director of health of the person's breath, blood, or urine for the purpose of determining alcohol concentration or drug content of the person's breath, blood, or urine, as applicable"; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 329-122(a), HRS, provides, in pertinent part, that a qualifying patient who has been diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating medical condition may use medical marijuana; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 241, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, authorized the Department of Health to license medical marijuana dispensaries to operate in the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, the operation of medical marijuana dispensaries is expected to lead to an increase in qualifying patients who use medical marijuana to treat debilitating medical conditions, including some who operate motor vehicles; and

 

     WHEREAS, Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational use; and

 

     WHEREAS, it seems possible that Hawaii could legalize marijuana for recreational use in the foreseeable future; and

 

     WHEREAS, the legalization of marijuana for recreational use in Hawaii could also lead to an increase in marijuana users who operate motor vehicles; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are no federal guidelines or standards to determine safe or unsafe levels of marijuana or its principal psychoactive component, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), in a driver's body for purposes of operating a motor vehicle; and

 

     WHEREAS, a basic principle of criminal justice is that a person should be able to know whether that person is breaking the law or not; and

 

     WHEREAS, indicators of marijuana use may be detectable in a user's blood stream long after that use, and while a person is no longer under the influence of marijuana; and

 

     WHEREAS, there clearly exists a need to establish a reliable scientific threshold and testing protocol for determining whether a person cannot safely operate a motor vehicle due to being under the influence of marijuana; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Health is requested to conduct a study to establish a reliable scientific threshold and testing protocol for determining whether a person cannot safely operate a motor vehicle due to being under the influence of marijuana; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Driving under the influence of marijuana. Testing.