STAND. COM. REP. NO. 726

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.B. No. 378

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 378 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit the issuance or renewal of a controlled substance registration for a methadone clinic or substance use disorder services clinic if the clinic is within seven hundred fifty feet of a school; and

(2) Allow the revocation or suspension of a controlled substance registration if the registrant is a methadone clinic or substance use disorder services clinic that has located or relocated within seven hundred fifty feet of a school.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from sixteen individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Public Safety, Department of Law Enforcement, Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition, Hawai‘i Society of Addiction Medicine, Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, CHAMP Inc., The Kaimana Company Holdings LLC, and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

Your Committee finds that there is a need to balance the interests of public safety, particularly the safety of school children, with the needs of those receiving treatment for substance use disorders. This measure is intended to balance these concerns.

Your Committee acknowledges that continued discussion in this area is needed and believes interested stakeholders from all sides should engage in conversations on this issue.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Establishing a Substance Use Disorder Services Clinic Working Group to collaborate and consult on issues relating to addiction recovery and public safety;

(2) Extending the time by which a methadone clinic or substance use disorder services clinic must comply with the requirements of this measure to three years, rather than one year;

(3) Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 378, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 378, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health & Homelessness,

____________________________

DELLA AU BELATTI, Chair