THE SENATE                           S.C.R. NO.            133
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

  REQUESTING A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF ENACTING A
    MEDICINAL CANNABIS (MARIJUANA) LAW IN LIGHT OF THE FEDERAL
    GOVERNMENT'S POWER TO SUPERSEDE CONFLICTING STATE LAWS.



 1        WHEREAS, the National Association for Public Health
 2   Policy, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American
 3   Public Health Association, the American Society of Addiction
 4   Medicine, the California Medical Association, the American
 5   Journal of Psychiatry, the Federation of American Scientists,
 6   and the New England Journal of Medicine have concluded that
 7   patients suffering from AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, Tourette's
 8   Syndrome, and other diseases, as well as traumatic physical
 9   injuries, are finding relief from chronic symptoms and
10   debilitating pain through the use of marijuana as medicine; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, such patients are currently subject to criminal
13   prosecution for utilizing marijuana to relieve their symptoms
14   and suffering; and
15   
16        WHEREAS, physicians, who are aware of the positive effects
17   of marijuana, risk possible criminal prosecution and the loss
18   of their license to prescribe controlled substances upon
19   prescribing or recommending the use of marijuana;
20   
21        WHEREAS, in recognition of the potential benefits of the
22   use of marijuana as medicine, several states including Alaska,
23   Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington have
24   overwhemingly passed initiatives allowing the medicinal use of
25   marijuana despite prevailing federal law; and
26   
27        WHEREAS, in United States v. Cannabis Cultivators Club, 5
28   F. Supp. 2d 1086 (N.D. Cal. 1998), the issue presented to the
29   federal district court was whether the defendants' conduct of
30   manufacturing, possessing, and distributing medicinal marijuana
31   which may be lawful under state law, may nevertheless violate
32   federal; and
33   

 
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                                  S.C.R. NO.            133
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1        WHEREAS, the federal district court found that there is a
 2   strong likelihood that the defendants' conduct violates the
 3   Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), and the court
 4   concluded that the Supremacy Clause of the United States
 5   Constitution mandates that federal law supersede state law
 6   where there is an outright conflict between such laws; now,
 7   therefore,
 8        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
 9   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, the House of
10   Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference
11   Bureau is requested to conduct a study of the feasibility of
12   enacting a medicinal cannabis (marijuana) law in light of the
13   federal government's power to supersede state law including,
14   but not limited to:
15   
16        (1)  Reviewing the construction, implementation, and
17             effectiveness of the initiatives adopted by Alaska,
18             Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington; 
19   
20        (2)  Identifying similar legal conflicts between state and
21             federal laws; and
22   
23        (2)  Identifying other similar situations or examples
24             whereby state law preempts federal law.
25   
26        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference
27   Bureau submit a report of findings and recommendations to the
28   Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of
29   the regular session of 2000; and
30   
31        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
32   concurrent resolution be transmitted to the President of the
33   United States, the President of the United States Senate, the
34   Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, members
35   of Hawaii's Congressional delegation, the Governor, and the
36   Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.
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40                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________