A pair of resolutions urging medical marijuana reform are moving forward in the Hawaii legislature.
Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 183 urges Congress and the Drug Enforcement Administration “to consider rescheduling medical marijuana.” Senate Concurrent Resolution 133 requests state officials to examine “the language, implementation, and effectiveness of medical marijuana laws in other states.” The Senate Ways and Means committee passed both bills yesterday by 6 to 2 votes.
NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. called the measures positive, incremental steps toward medical marijuana reform. “Passage of this language will put Hawaii’s legislature along side dozens of medical organizations, like the American Public Health Association and the New United Kingdom Journal of Medicine, that have requested federal officials to reschedule medical marijuana,” he said. “Hopefully, passage of these resolutions will mark the first step toward granting legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill Hawaiian patients.”
A pair of bills seeking to exempt medical marijuana patients from state criminal penalties died earlier this year.
The Senate resolutions now await action by the House of Representatives.
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup or Paul Armentano of NORML @ (202) 483-5500. To download copies of this legislation, please visit: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/.