STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2037-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2418

S.D. 1

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2418, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to repeal the law prohibiting drug paraphernalia under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Health Planning and Development Agency; Office of the Public Defender; Hep Free Hawaii; Kumukahi Health + Wellness; Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center; Drug Policy Forum of Hawaiʻi; Community Alliance on Prisons; and six individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of the Attorney General; Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Hawaiʻi; Honolulu Police Department; and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Health.

Your Committee finds that existing drug paraphernalia laws, rooted in a decades-old federal model, have fostered a criminalization-based approach that stigmatizes individuals and creates unnecessary barriers to essential healthcare and harm reduction services. Your Committee further finds that research from leading public health organizations demonstrates that repealing these prohibitions is essential to reducing overdose deaths, addressing systemic racial disparities, and refocusing state resources on evidence-based strategies that prioritize the dignity and health of the community. This measure promotes the efficacy of Hawaii's public health efforts related to overdose prevention by repealing the law prohibiting drug paraphernalia under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Repealing:

(A) References to drug paraphernalia that would be obsolete under this measure;

(B) The definition of "drug paraphernalia" under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act; and

(C) Language that subjected drug paraphernalia to forfeiture;

(2) Making housekeeping amendments by repealing obsolete references to the repealed criminal offense of unlawful methamphetamine trafficking; and

(3) 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2418, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2418, S.D. 1, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair