STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2654

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3275

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 3275 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CANNABIS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Legalize the cultivation, sale, processing, purchasing, possession, transport, and use of low-dose and low-potency cannabis for personal adult use by persons over the age of twenty-one;

(2) Legalize cannabis accessories; and

(3) Require the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to adopt rules to effectuate the legalization of low‑dose and low-potency cannabis.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Public Defender, ACLU Hawaiʻi, Marijuana Policy Project, Ohana Unity Party, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Alliance for Cannabis Reform, and fifteen individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of the Attorney General; Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu; Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Maui; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; Hawaii Family Forum; Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii; Institute for Human Services, Inc.; Hawaiʻi High Intensity Drug Trafficking Agency; Hawaii Transportation Association; Hina Mauka; One Impact Hawaii; Child and Family Service; and twenty-nine individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Health, Department of Human Resources Development, Department of Law Enforcement, and Akamai Cannabis Consulting.

Your Committees find that cannabis enforcement has historically been focused on low-income communities and communities of color. Continued criminalization of cannabis in the State risks perpetuating this inequity for marginal public safety gains. Additionally, personal use of cannabis by individuals over the age of twenty-one can be viewed as a right to bodily autonomy and privacy. This measure would create a regulatory framework for cannabis with meaningful limitations, allowing law enforcement to focus on serious and violent offenses, and supporting individual autonomy.

Your Committees note that at present there are no other legislative vehicles available to discuss the impacts of recent federal changes relating to the hemp industry, especially pertaining to the cultivation, processing and manufacture of cannabidiol oil products in the State. Accordingly, this measure remains a work in progress for further consideration and discussion as it advances through the legislature.

Your Committees further find that although this measure is intended to regulate the personal use of cannabis for individuals over the age of twenty-one in the State, your Committees note the concerns raised in testimony, including the questions regarding the health and social risks of cannabis use, access by minors, and appropriate administration of low-dose and low-potency cannabis by the State, as proposed by this measure.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Replacing the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs with the Office of Medical Cannabis Control and Regulation as the administering authority of low-dose and low-potency cannabis;

(2) Deleting certain language that would have made it lawful for an individual twenty-one years of age or older to:

(A) Cultivate, store, transport, manufacture, process, or possess with intent to distribute a certain quantity of low-dose and low-potency cannabis for retail or dispensing purposes;

(B) Purchase, transport, or posses a certain quantity of low-dose and low-potency cannabis and products;

(C) Possess or store a certain quantity of low-dose and low-potency cannabis produced from personal cultivation at a private residence; or

(D) Possess, plant, cultivate, harvest, dry, or process a certain quantity of low-dose and low-potency cannabis for personal use; and

(3) Deleting language that would have prohibited disqualification from medical care, denial of parenting or visitation rights, or denial of benefits or discipline by a State employer for use of low-dose and low-potency cannabis; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3275, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3275, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Health and Human Services,

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair