Marijuana Moment: Hawaii Senators Pass Resolutions Seeking Federal Medical Marijuana Exemption From DEA

[Tokeativity]

Hawaii senators are sending a message to the governor, state attorney general and health department to recognize their “clear legislative stance” in support of requesting an exemption from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) stipulating that Hawaii is permitted to run its medical cannabis program without federal interference.

Members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Monday approved a pair of resolutions that address the state-federal cannabis policy disconnect, with a push to have state officials exercise their authority to request a DEA exemption under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) with respect to its medical marijuana law.

The “legal disharmony” resulting from the underlying policy conflict has “created a layered legal and economic gray area, in which patients and dispensaries must violate federal law to participate, with prosecution protection entirely dependent upon the non-enforcement of federal law,” the companion Senate resolution and Senate concurrent resolution say.

This is not the first time that the legislature has advanced such resolutions—and the language of the latest versions reflects a sense of frustration that the Department of Health (DOH) failed to follow through on lawmakers’ 2021 directive to request the cannabis exemption. The governor and state attorney general also have the power to make that exemption request, the measures note.

Under the current system, the “legal disparities between the state and federal regulation of cannabis threaten employment, firearms registration, inter-island transport, housing, hospice care, and safe and affordable access for tens of thousands of Hawaii’s medical cannabis patients,” the legislation says, adding that the conflicting policies further “discourage hundreds of thousands of potential medical cannabis patients from enrolling in Hawaii’s Medical Cannabis Program for fear of federal repercussions.”

To effectively protect the state’s medical cannabis patient population, Hawaii could apply for the DEA exception “so that registered patients could participate in Hawaii’s Medical Cannabis Program without being exposed to federal prosecution or discrimination,” SR 141 and SCR 150 continue.

Under the concurrent resolution adopted during the 2021 session, DOH received a request from lawmakers to apply for that exemption in hopes of receiving “formal written acknowledgement that the listing of marihuana, marihuana extract, and tetrahydrocannabinols as controlled substances in Federal Schedule I does not apply to the protected activities in Hawaii Revised Statutes.”

However, “despite this clear legislative stance, the Department of Health, along with the Governor and Attorney General who also have the discretion to apply for the exemption, have yet to take any action,” the measures say.

Notably, the resolutions that cleared the Senate committee on Monday also point out that President Donald Trump signed an executive order in December to “expedite the federal rescheduling of cannabis to Schedule III.” Therefore, there’s urgent need to “protect Hawaii’s medical cannabis program and the state’s authority over the intrastate medical use of cannabis.”

The resolutions say the governor is “respectfully requested to act on House Concurrent Resolution 132, Regular Session of 2021 and pursue with the Drug Enforcement Administration an exemption from federal controlled substance regulation for registered medical cannabis patients in Hawaii.”

Also, “it is also requested that registration waivers from the Drug Enforcement Administration for state-licensed dispensaries under Chapter 21 United States Code, section 822(d) are pursued for the intrastate production and distribution of medical cannabis,” and DOH is additionally “requested to provide updates to the Legislature as they become available.”

Relatedly, in 2020, DEA rejected a petition to exempt Iowa from enforcement actions related to its medical cannabis program that was filed by an activist, Carl Olsen, who also filed a lawsuit against the governor, arguing that the state had unnecessarily delayed submitting that request as prescribed under legislation that passed that year.

—
Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—

Back in Hawaii, although senators recently approved a bill to legalize low-dose and low-potency marijuana, the legislation didn’t advance through required steps before a key deadline, and so it is dead for the year.

A separate marijuana legalization bill that contained provisions making the reform contingent on changes to federal law or the state Constitution, SB 2421, was deferred for action. Both Senate and House panels additionally deferred action on a measure to allow for the sale of certain hemp-derived cannabinoid products.

Those actions comes after key House lawmakers signaled that cannabis legalization proposals would not be advancing in the 2026 session, citing a lack of sufficient support in their chamber.

Earlier this month, a Hawaii Senate committee separately passed legislation to allow patients to immediately access medical cannabis once their registrations are submitted, instead of having to wait until their cards are delivered as is the case under current law.

Meanwhile, a Hawaii House committee last week approved a Senate-passed bill that would create a psychedelics task force responsible for studying and making policy recommendations on providing access to breakthrough therapies such as psilocybin and MDMA.

Legislation to allow qualifying patients to access medical marijuana at health facilities is also advancing this session.

The post Hawaii Senators Pass Resolutions Seeking Federal Medical Marijuana Exemption From DEA appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net