Hawaii is the only remaining state in the nation with a Democratic government trifecta yet no adult-use cannabis program. And 2025 doesn’t appear to be the year for reform in the Aloha State.
That’s because Hawaii House Rep. Chris Todd, D-Hilo, introduced a rare motion to recommit an adult-use cannabis bill on Feb. 6, before a second reading of the legislation could unfold with debate on the chamber’s floor.
The motion, which passed on a voice vote, essentially tabled the legislation, House Bill 1246, until next year.
The bill aims to allow adults 21 years and older to possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis or 5 grams of cannabis concentrate and grow up to six plants in their homes for personal use—but no more than 10 plants for households with multiple adults—as well as set up a licensed, regulated and taxed marketplace for commercial operators.
While Hawaii was one of the most progressive states in the nation on cannabis reform when it became the first state to legalize medical cannabis via legislative action in 2000, it now represents the oldest medical-only market in the nation.
The House’s decision to recommit the bill to the committee process until 2026 came two days after the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs voted, 6-4, and the Committee on Agriculture and Food Systems voted, 5-0, to advance the legislation for full floor consideration.
Notably, Todd voted in favor of advancing the bill on Feb. 4 as a member of the Judiciary Committee before his motion to cut off full floor discussion of the bill on Feb. 6.
“On this particular bill, it became clear that we did not have enough support to pass the measure in this session,” Todd told Honolulu’s Civil Beat following Thursday’s voice vote.
However, five House members went on record rejecting the motion before the voice vote.
Rep. Kim Coco Iwamoto, D-Ala Moana, said she opposed the timing of the motion coming before the second reading, instead of the third reading, because that prevented House members not serving on either of the two aforementioned committees from hearing the merits of the legislation.
“I never got to sit on a committee to hear this bill debated in front of me. I was looking forward to hearing and asking questions,” she said. “If we recommit this bill, it will delay the application of this bill, and I’m afraid that it will open up potentially mayhem if the current [presidential] administration [reschedules or deschedules cannabis] and we are stuck in a situation where we have no regulation.”
Iwamoto said that even though she may or may not agree with the bill’s substance, she at least wanted the opportunity to discuss it.
Reps. Della Au Belatti, D-Makiki; Amy Perruso, D-Waipi‘o Acres; Terez Amato, D-Mā‘alaeal; and Kanani Souza, R-Kapolei, also opposed the motion.
“I think it’s very important to note that it has been rare custom and practice on this floor to actually recommit a bill on second reading in my 18 years here,” Belatti said.
“I really appreciate the conversations and the debate and the discussion we have in this process, and for me, that’s really important,” Perruso said. “To have it cut short so early in the process is disheartening.”
Souza made a point of parliamentary inquiry to ask House Speaker Nadine Nakamura, D-Hā‘ena, why Todd offered the motion to recommit the bill.
After a short recess, Nakamura denied the inquiry.
“There will be no response,” Nakamura said.
Majority Leader Sean Quinlan, D-Waialua, was the lone representative to speak in support of the motion.
“Similar to last session, we were unable to build consensus, and I think it is now time for us to focus on areas where we can build consensus, to focus on the bills that we are able to pass over to the Senate this year and the good that we hope to accomplish for the people of Hawaii,” he said.
The people of Hawaii, however, want adult-use cannabis legalized, an issue that 58% of the state’s adults support, according to a late 2023 Hawai’i Perspectives poll conducted by Pacific Resource Partnership.
Although the Hawaii Senate passed an adult-use legalization bill for the second straight year on a 19-6 vote in March 2024, the Hawaii House Finance Committee killed last year’s legislation when it refused to hold a hearing. Committee Chair Kyle T. Yamashita, D-Keahua, called the legalization attempt a “deeply divisive issue” at the time.
While the Hawaii House’s blockade to cannabis reform continues this legislative session, companion legislation in the upper chamber, Senate Bill 1613, is still in the committee process.
In addition to decriminalizing cannabis for adults and establishing a regulating marketplace, the legislation also aims to establish the Hawaii Cannabis and Hemp Office within the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to act as the lead regulatory authority over an adult-use and medical cannabis program as well as the state’s hemp program.
Also under the bill, there would be a 14% excise tax on adult-use sales, while the state’s 4% tax on medical cannabis sales would continue.
After accounting for expenses for running a regulated cannabis program, the net profits from tax revenues collected would be appropriated as follows:
30% to a social equity grant program;10% to a public health and education grant program;10% to a public safety grant program; 5% to a hemp grant program; 5% to counties, allocated based on revenue collected from each county;5% to the attorney general’s office for drug nuisance abatement; and5% to the attorney general’s office for the special investigation and prosecution division to prevent the proliferation of money laundering and organized crime.
It’s unclear if the remaining 30% would be kept in the Hawaii Treasury or was configured into the administrative expenses of the Hawaii Cannabis and Hemp Office.
Existing medical cannabis operators would be required to pay a one-time conversion fee of $50,000 per dispensary location and $25,000 per cultivation/production facility to transition to the adult-use market under the legislation.
Applicants for new licenses would need to be at least 25 years old, have been Hawaii residents for at least five years and not convicted of a felony.
Cultivators would be limited to 3,500 square feet of indoor canopy, 5,000 square feet of outdoor canopy or a maximum of 15,000 indoor plants for medical operators that converted to adult-use licenses.
These are just a few of the many provisions included in the 300-plus-page bill.
Although the Senate can still pass the bill this session, the legislation’s uncertainty in the House remains.
After the bill survived two committees, a rare motion prevented the legislation from being discussed on the chamber’s floor. Read More
