Hawaii senate bill 786 Archives

Hawaii Bill to Make State Refer to “Medical Marijuana” as “Medical Cannabis” Passes Two House Committees Unanimously

April 4, 2017April 4, 2017

Two House committee in Hawaii have unanimously passed a bill to change the way the state refers to “medical marijuana”.

[Update: According to Senator Mike Gabbard the measure has now been passed unanimously by the full House of Representatives.]

Senate Bill 786 has been passed by both the House Health Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, both unanimously. The measure, filed by Senator Mike Gabbard (D), has already been passed by the Senate with a 25 to 0 vote. It will soon be up for a vote in the full House of Representatives.

Senate Bill 786 would amend “Hawaii Revised Statutes and Hawaii Administrative Rules to substitute references to “medical marijuana” and like terms with “medical cannabis” and like terms”, and “Requires the department of health to make all conforming revisions to documents, letterhead, websites, and other necessary items by December 31, 2019.”

Hawaii Bill Adding Five New Medical Cannabis Conditions Passes House Committee

March 22, 2017

The Hawaii House Health Committee has passed a measure that wold expand the state’s medical cannabis program. They also unanimously passed a bill to change state law to refer to “medical marijuana” as “medical cannabis”.

Senate Bill 174, which has already passed the Senate with a unanimous 25 to 0 vote, passed the House Health Committee yesterday; the vote was 4 to 2. The proposal would add lupus, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and autism as conditions that qualify someone to become a legal medical cannabis patient.

Currently medical cannabis use in Hawaii is limited to those with cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS or a “chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces” cachexia, severe pain or nausea, seizures, sever muscle spasms or post traumatic stress disorder.

Hawaii Bill to Rename “Medical Marijuana” to Medical Cannabis” Passes Senate Unanimously

March 13, 2017

Hawaii’s Senate has unanimously passed a bill to legally change how the state refers to “medical marijuana”.

Senate Bill 786 – filed by Senator Mike Gabbard (D) – would revise Hawaii’s laws and administrative rules to no longer refer to “medical marijuana”, but to instead call it “medical cannabis”. It passed the Senate with a 25 to 0 vote.

According to the bill’s official text, the change is necessary because “Marijuana” has no scientific basis but carries prejudicial implications rooted in racial stereotypes”. The measure notes that “cannabis”, on the other hand, carries with it “no such negative connotations.”