HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

10

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE MAYOR AND THE COUNCIL OF MAUI COUNTY TO IMPLEMENT VARIOUS MEASURES REGARDING MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN THE COUNTY OF MAUI.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, Hawaii has enacted a medical marijuana law that enables a qualifying patient who has been diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating disease and for whom the potential benefits from the medical use of marijuana likely outweighs the health risks, to possess and use an adequate supply of marijuana for medical purposes; and

 

     WHEREAS, eleven other states have enacted similar medical marijuana laws, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington; and

 

     WHEREAS, on June 6, 2005, the United States Supreme Court, in Gonzales v. Raich (545 U.S. 1 (2005)), affirmed the constitutional authority of the United States Congress to regulate the interstate market in drugs, including small, homegrown quantities of physician-recommended marijuana for medical uses under a State's medical marijuana law, which, for the purposes of federal enforcement, effectively bans the possession and use of marijuana for any purposes, including medical use; and

 

     WHEREAS, despite the Supreme Court decision, the reality remains that many patients in the State, particularly on the island of Maui, rely on the use of marijuana to alleviate their pain and suffering that cannot be addressed in any other ways; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Mayor and the County Council of Maui are strongly urged to implement various measures regarding medical marijuana as follows:

 

     (1)  Develop a Maui County Family Farmer Medical Marijuana Regulation and Revenue Program to tax and regulate the sale of marijuana for adult use;

 

     (2)  Under the program:

 

         (A)  License qualified family farmers in designated agricultural zones to produce marijuana and allow each licensed family farmer to produce marijuana for up to two hundred qualifying patients;

 

         (B)  Create an allotment system allowing agriculturally zoned family farmers on the island of Maui to supply the medical marijuana needs of Maui by requiring five-year organic farm plans based on at least two organic crops, the first of which shall be marijuana and the second of which shall be an organic vegetables crop; and

 

         (C)  Create a community oversight committee to oversee the implementation of the program;

 

     (3)  Direct the Maui County Police Department to make investigation, citation, and arrest for private adult medical marijuana offenses the lowest law enforcement priority; and

 

     (4)  Advocate for legislative change to further legalize medical use of marijuana at the state and the federal levels; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Mayor and the Chairperson of the Council of Maui County.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Medical Marijuana; Maui County