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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
45 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION TO INITIATE RESCHEDULING PROCEEDINGS TO REMOVE MARIJUANA FROM SCHEDULE I OF THE FEDERAL CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.
WHEREAS, the structure of our government allows for the distribution of power between the states and the federal government; and
WHEREAS, a power that remains with the states is the authority to accept the medical use of controlled substances; and
WHEREAS, Hawaii lawfully exercised its authority to accept the medical use of marijuana in 2000, when it created the State's medical marijuana program and accepted the medical use of marijuana in treatment; and
WHEREAS, under the federal Controlled Substances Act, scheduling under schedule I requires several findings, one of which is that the drug or controlled substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States; and
WHEREAS, marijuana does not satisfy that finding to be scheduled as a schedule I controlled substance, as medical use of marijuana in treatment currently exists and is accepted in the United States, including Hawaii; and
WHEREAS, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the agency that administers the federal regulation of controlled substances, may not deny a State's authority to change the status of a controlled substance that has a currently accepted medical use in treatment; and
WHEREAS, the Drug Enforcement Administration, by enforcing an obsolete regulation that classifies marijuana as a federal schedule I controlled substance and ignoring the currently accepted medical use of marijuana in treatment that exists in the United States, including Hawaii, is preventing Hawaii from creating a state regulated distribution system that complies with federal law; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Drug Enforcement Administration is requested to abide by the federal Controlled Substances Act and initiate rescheduling proceedings to remove marijuana from schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health is requested to file a formal petition with the Drug Enforcement Administration within thirty days of the adoption of this measure, requesting that marijuana and its intrinsic cannabinoids be removed from federal schedule I and rescheduled based on the State's authority to accept the medical use of marijuana and the currently accepted medical use of marijuana in treatment that exists in the United States, including Hawaii; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Attorney General of the United States, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Governor, Director of Health, Director of Public Safety, and State Attorney General.
Drug Enforcement Administration; Controlled Substances Act; Medical Marijuana