{"id":5930,"date":"2016-04-26T22:48:10","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T22:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/?p=50182"},"modified":"2016-04-26T22:48:10","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T22:48:10","slug":"hawaii-senate-approves-drug-decriminalization-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/hawaii-senate-approves-drug-decriminalization-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii Senate Approves Drug Decriminalization Study"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/hawaii-senate-approves-drug-decriminalization-study\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Both chambers of the Hawaii Legislature have now voted in favor of the state examining decriminalization of all drugs.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, the Senate approved a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.capitol.hawaii.gov\/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HCR&amp;billnumber=127\">resolution<\/a>\u00a0requesting that the state\u2019s Legislative Reference Bureau \u201cconduct a\u00a0study on the potential impact on state government of decriminalizing the illegal possession of drugs for personal use in Hawaii\u201d so that such conduct \u201cwould constitute an administrative or civil violation rather than a criminal offense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The House <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/blog\/news\/2016\/03\/hawaii-lawmakers-ok-study-on-decriminalizing-drugs\/\">approved<\/a> a version of the measure last month by a vote of 37-7 but, because the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/blog\/news\/2016\/04\/hawaii-lawmakers-approve-drug-decriminalization-study\/\">slightly amended<\/a> the resolution last week, it must again be approved by the House before it is officially enacted.<\/p>\n<p>Hawaii&#8217;s\u00a0consideration of\u00a0decriminalization comes as a growing number of world leaders and health experts are rethinking\u00a0the global drug war. Last\u00a0week, the United Nations held its highest-level review of drug policies since 1998. At the UN General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS), officials from Canada, Mexico, Jamaica and other nations forcefully spoke out about the failure of current policies and announced reforms.<\/p>\n<p>And last month, a panel of leading health experts from around the world <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/blog\/news\/2016\/03\/leading-health-experts-decriminalize-drugs\/\">recommended global drug decriminalization<\/a>.\u00a0Doing so\u00a0can lead to \u201csignificant financial savings, less incarceration, significant public health benefits and no significant increase in drug use,\u201d said the\u00a0commission, which was set up\u00a0by leading British medical journal\u00a0The Lancet and top U.S. medical school Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawaii study, which would be due later this year in preparation for the legislature\u2019s 2017 session, would examine Portugal\u2019s\u00a0decriminalization of drugs as a possible model for the state.<\/p>\n<p>In 2001, that country\u00a0decriminalized all drugs, including marijuana, heroin and cocaine. While use and possession remain technically illegal, people caught with small amounts of drugs are not arrested or sent to prison. Rather, they are brought\u00a0before three-member commissions that can recommend treatment or assign fines and other administrative remedies. Drug trafficking and sales are\u00a0still punishable as crimes.<\/p>\n<p>A 2009 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cato.org\/publications\/white-paper\/drug-decriminalization-portugal-lessons-creating-fair-successful-drug-policies\">Cato Institute report<\/a>, cited in the Hawaii resolution, found that since decriminalization went into effect, drug use by Portuguese teenagers has dropped, as have drug-related deaths and HIV\/AIDS rates among drug users.\u00a0Enrollment in drug treatment is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drugpolicy.org\/sites\/default\/files\/DPA_Fact_Sheet_Portugal_Decriminalization_Feb2015.pdf\">up<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Carl Bergquist of the <a href=\"http:\/\/dpfhi.org\/\">Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii<\/a>, told Marijuana.com in an email that he expects the House to easily approve the Senate-amended resolution with &#8220;no issues.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>If it does, the state would be the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/blog\/news\/2016\/03\/hawaii-weighs-study-on-decriminalizing-all-drugs\/\">first to approve<\/a> an official study on decriminalizing all drugs.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty U.S. states have passed laws that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mpp.org\/issues\/decriminalization\/\">decriminalize marijuana<\/a>, which at a minimum remove the threat of jail time for first-time simple possession offenses.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, legislators in Vermont\u2019s House of Representatives introduced a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/legislature.vermont.gov\/bill\/status\/2016\/H.0170\">measure<\/a> to direct the state\u2019s\u00a0Office of Legislative Council to study\u00a0a\u00a0\u201cnoncriminal public health approach\u201d to drugs,\u00a0but it was never scheduled for a hearing or vote.<\/p>\n<p>And this\u00a0February, a Maryland lawmaker, Del. Dan Morhaim (D), <a href=\"http:\/\/mgaleg.maryland.gov\/webmga\/frmMain.aspx?pid=billpage&amp;stab=01&amp;id=hb1119&amp;tab=subject3&amp;ys=2016RS\">introduced legislation<\/a> to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs. After a hearing in the House of Delegates Judiciary Committee it was defeated by a\u00a0vote of 18-1.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawaii Legislature is scheduled to adjourn next Thursday, May 5.<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo Courtesy of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/gallery-140512p1.html\">Jiri Hera<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Both chambers of the Hawaii Legislature have now voted in favor of the state examining decriminalization of all drugs. On Monday, the Senate approved a resolution\u00a0requesting that the state\u2019s Legislative Reference Bureau \u201cconduct a\u00a0study on the potential impact on state government of decriminalizing the illegal possession of drugs for personal use in Hawaii\u201d so that [&#8230;] <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2417,9,1,3],"tags":[2419],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5930\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}