Hawaiian lawmakers are pushing forward with their latest cannabis reform effort as the state Senate passed legislation that would legalize and regulate recreational cannabis on Tuesday.

In a 19-6 vote, the Hawaiian Senate approved Senate Bill 3335, which would allow adults over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce of cannabis and up to five grams of cannabis concentrates, along with establishing a recreational cannabis sales framework. 

The proposal would also enforce a 14% excise tax on recreational cannabis products and a 4% tax rate on the medical cannabis market. Residents would be allowed to grow a maximum of six plants and possess up to 10 ounces of home-grown flower. Additionally, the bill would create a social equity program and establish the Hawaii Hemp and Cannabis Authority, overseen by the Hemp Cannabis Control Board, to regulate cannabis and hemp businesses.

Though the fight is far from over. 

An Uncertain Fate in the House and Outstanding Criticisms

The legislation now heads to Hawaii’s more conservative House for consideration, which has historically been resistant to adult-use cannabis policies. The last time the Hawaiian Senate passed an adult-use cannabis legalization bill in 2023, it ultimately stalled in the House, but advocates are hopeful this effort will make more progress.

This year’s bill, totaling more than 300 pages, was introduced in both chambers in January and is primarily based upon Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez’s legalization plan released in November 2023.

And while many lawmakers have praised the new bill and the plan it’s based upon, advocates have expressed concerns around the bill’s creation of additional law enforcement protocols.

The legislation includes provisions that impose THC blood limits for drivers, despite the fact that THC metabolites can be detected in the body days or even weeks after consumption. It also creates a cannabis enforcement unit within the Department of Law Enforcement and adds eight positions in a drug nuisance abatement unit in the AG’s office.

Advocates also highlighted another provision subjecting those found with loose cannabis, an open package for a cannabis product or a cannabis pipe in a car to up to 30 days in jail.

With these provisions in mind, a number of groups are pushing to make amendments to SB 3335.

Amendment Efforts Among Reform Advocates

Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, said that lawmakers are being faced with an opportunity, not only to enact legalization and regulation but in a manner “rooted in justice and equity, not an excessively punitive approach.” 

Rather, O’Keefe said that lawmakers should see cannabis legalization as “essential criminal justice reform” and further emphasize education, reinvestment in communities, reparative justice and building a more equitable and inclusive industry.

The Hawai’i Alliance for Cannabis Reform (HACR) similarly recognized that the Senate’s approval of SB 3335 was a sign of progress while referencing their ongoing concerns and proposed amendments to the legislation. The group’s amendments include eliminating the THC limit for drivers and open container provisions in the bill, with others expanding upon the social equity specifics of the legislation.

“Although this is an imperfect bill that still contains far too many elements of criminalization, it’s welcome news to have a viable adult-use legalization bill that can be improved upon when it reaches the House,” said Nikos Leverenz, grants and advancement manager of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawai’i and the Hawai’i Health and Harm Reduction Center. “Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii and other members of the Hawaii Alliance for Cannabis Reform are hopeful that our proposed amendments will be considered by the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee.”

Continued Reform Efforts and Governor Support

Alongside the latest cannabis legalization bill, senators also approved a separate piece of legislation, SB 2487, which reduces penalties around possession of up to 15 grams of cannabis to a non-criminal offense. If passed, offenders would instead pay a $130 fine. 

A similar bill in the House, HB 1596, would reduce penalties of cannabis possession up to one ounce and/or cannabis-related paraphernalia to a $25 fine.

It seems that clearing the House is the main obstacle for recreational cannabis legalization in Hawaii, as Gov. Josh Green (D) indicated last month that he would likely sign such a bill if lawmakers sent him one. 

In an appearance on Hawaii News Now, Green referenced that Hawaii must still address the social issue of cannabis legalization, even signaling that access to adult-use cannabis could act as a harm reduction effort.

“I don’t think the sky would fall, honestly, if marijuana were legalized,” Green said. “I also have some thoughts that marijuana might blunt the effect, if you will, of people on these heavy drugs, these horrible drugs.”

While it’s still uncertain exactly where this road will go, Senate Democrats have made it clear that cannabis legalization is a priority. At the beginning of the year, the issue appeared on the Senate’s list of priorities for the 2024 legislative session under a section centering economic development and infrastructure.

“The Senate remains committed to diversifying and expanding Hawai‘i’s economy, as well as improving infrastructure throughout the State,” the section starts. It mentions “investing in emerging industries to diversify the economy” before explicitly referencing “legalizing adult-use recreational cannabis” at the very end of the section.

We’ll have to wait and see if the House feels the same this time around.

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The Virginia Senate and House of Delegates have approved competing bills to regulate and tax recreational marijuana sales, more than two years after the state legalized the possession of cannabis by adults. Each bill now heads to the other chamber of the state legislature, where lawmakers are expected to make several amendments to the measures.

Both bills legalize retail sales of cannabis to adults aged 21 and older with a scheduled start date of January 1, 2025, according to a report from the nonprofit cannabis advocacy group the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). In the House, HB 698 from Delegate Paul Krizek would levy a tax of 9% on cannabis sales, which would be exempt from normal state and local retail sales taxes. A separate bill from state Senator Aaron Rouse, SB 448, would add a 16% tax to cannabis sales on top of the regular state and local retail sales taxes.

NORML Development Director JM Pedini, who uses the pronoun they, testified before both chambers of the legislature in support of the bills. In the Senate, they asked lawmakers to amend SB 448 to remove penalties for people who make cannabis products such as baked goods or tinctures that are intended for personal use and for possessing legal amounts in public.

HB 698 was passed by delegates in the House on Monday by a vote of 52-48. In the Senate, SB 488 was approved by a vote of 21-18 on Tuesday. The two bills will each now head to the other legislative chamber for consideration.

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are expected to amend the bills by substituting the version each chamber has already passed. The legislation would then head to a conference committee where representatives of each chamber will work to come to a consensus on a compromise measure.

“The real work will be done in conference committee, at which point conferees must decide if these are simply messaging bills, or if they intend to send Governor Youngkin something palatable enough for him to even consider not vetoing,” said NORML’s Pedini, who also serves as the executive director of Virginia NORML.

Weed Possession Legalized in 2021

Legislation passed in July 2021 legalized the possession of cannabis by adults aged 21 and older, but a reenactment clause requiring a second vote to authorize retail sales was not taken up after Republicans took control of the state legislature later in 2021. Last year, Republican Glenn Youngkin said that he was not interested in legalizing cannabis sales.

“Governor Youngkin has stated that he is not interested in any further moves towards legalization of adult recreational-use marijuana, so I wouldn’t expect that during his administration,” Joseph Guthrie, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said at a public meeting in June 2023, according to a report from the Washington Post.

Lawmakers also heard from opponents of legalizing sales of recreational weed in Virginia including, as might be expected, representatives of law enforcement. In a letter to the legislature from the Virginia Sheriff’s Association, the Virginia State Police Association, the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police and the Virginia Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, police officials told lawmakers that they are opposed to a regulated adult-use cannabis market.

“Legalizing retail sales will undermine the work Gov. Youngkin’s administration has undertaken to improve behavioral health in the Commonwealth,” the letter states, according to a report from local media. “We collectively appreciate the focus on the ‘Right Help Right Now Plan’ and the strides we have made in better serving our communities with additional behavioral-health resources.”

The letter also warned that a legal recreational marijuana market will not eliminate illicit sales of marijuana in Virginia.

“States with legal retail cannabis have failed to extinguish the cannabis black market,” the letter states, “while also seeing that cannabis tourism creates a nexus for the international drug trade that is dominated by organized crime, and an increase in illegal operation following legalization.”

But Pedini argues that since the possession of cannabis was legalized, the unlicensed cannabis market has increased significantly.

“Absent a legal marketplace, Virginia’s illicit market has since ballooned from $1.8 billion in 2021 to $2.4 billion in 2023,” said Pedini. “Unfortunately, consumers don’t know whether they’re getting a safe product or one contaminated with potentially dangerous adulterants. Unregulated marijuana isn’t lab tested for purity and it isn’t sold in packaging that is both childproof and not appealing to children.”

“Ultimately, Governor Youngkin will have to decide if he’s more interested in allowing unlicensed, unregulated operators to continue controlling cannabis in the Commonwealth or if he’s finally ready to extend the same commonsense provisions already used to regulate the legal sale of medical cannabis in Virginia to adult-use retail,” they added.

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Local news outlet WPRI reported last week that the state’s Office of Cannabis Regulation says that recreational marijuana sales “have steadily increased almost monthly over the past year, and the estimated sales for Fiscal Year 2024 is $76 million.”

“That sales estimate, if met, would translate into more than $15 million in state and local revenue: $7.6 million from the state’s 10% cannabis tax, $5.3 million from the 7% sales tax and $2.3 million from the 3% local tax,” the station reported, noting that the Office of Cannabis Regulation “estimates that, in October alone, more than $7 million worth of recreational cannabis products were sold statewide.”

Rhode Island lawmakers last year passed a bill that legalized recreational cannabis for adults aged 21 and older, making it the 19th state in the U.S. to do so.

The bill, which legalized possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for adults and also permitted possession by adults of up to 10 ounces is permitted in a private home, was approved by members of the state General Assembly in May of 2022. The measure also established the framework for legal, regulated recreational cannabis sales in Rhode Island.

“This is a truly momentous day for Rhode Island. I’m deeply grateful to Senator Miller for his years of hard work and leadership on this issue, and I’m incredibly proud to have been part of reaching this point,”  Rhode Island state Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey, a Democrat, said after the legislation passed. “Ending cannabis prohibition helps us right past wrongs while creating new opportunities for all Rhode Islanders. This is the right move, at the right time, for our state.”

The bill was signed into law by Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee, a Democrat, who later announced that legal cannabis sales would launch on December 1, 2022.

“This milestone is the result of a carefully executed process to ensure that our state’s entry into this emerging market was done in a safe, controlled and equitable manner,” McKee said last year after the sales date was announced. “It is also a win for our statewide economy and our strong, locally based cannabis supply chain, which consists of nearly 70 licensed cultivators, processors and manufacturers in addition to our licensed compassion centers. Finally, I thank the leadership of the General Assembly for passing this practical implementation framework in the Rhode Island Cannabis Act and I look forward to continuing our work together on this issue.”

The Rhodes Island Cannabis Act included “a call for applications for ‘hybrid retail licenses,’” according to the governor’s office. Those hybrid licenses “allow licensed compassion centers to sell both medical marijuana as well as safe, well-regulated and competitively priced marijuana products to Rhode Island adults over the age of 21, was issued in early October,” McKee’s office said last year.

Five cannabis dispensaries (described as “compassion centers” by the state) received approval from the state to open for business on December 1, 2022. There are currently seven licensed dispensaries in Rhode Island, although the state has allowed for 33 retail licenses to ultimately be awarded.

Matt Santacroce, interim deputy director of the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, said at the time that the state was “pleased with the quality and comprehensiveness of the applications we received from the state’s compassion centers, and we are proud to launch adult use sales in Rhode Island just six months after the Cannabis Act was signed into law, marking the Northeast’s fastest implementation period.” 

According to the Providence Journal, “$62.9 million worth of recreational retail marijuana has sold in Rhode Island since retail sales began last December,” although that figure “does not include sales for November, nor does it include medical marijuana sales, which are counted separately.”

Including medical marijuana sales, “total retail marijuana sales in Rhode Island top $95 million,” according to the Journal.

But as in other states that have taken the step to legalize adult-use cannabis, the change in law has also resulted in a dip in medical marijuana sales.

Erica Ferrelli, chief of strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation for the state cannabis office, told the Providence Journal that there has been a “drastic” decline in medical marijuana patients over the last year.

“Last December, 15,062 active patients bought marijuana from Rhode Island dispensaries. By October that number had fallen to 10,377,” the Journal reported.

Ferrelli told the newspaper that many patients “just find it easier to transition to the adult-use market” and pay a higher tax in order to avoid “the burden of finding a doctor, getting them to sign you into the program, which is still pretty difficult, pay for an appointment and get yourself there, which for some patients might be quite the hassle.”

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The city of Aurora, Colorado hosted a grand opening on Tuesday for its brand new 77,000-square foot, nearly $42 million recreational facility that was funded entirely by tax revenue generated from legal marijuana sales. 

Known as the “Southeast Recreation Center and Fieldhouse,” the facility boasts a slew of amenities, according to local news station KDVR: “A 23,000-square-foot fieldhouse with temperature controlled indoor environment; A full-sized field with professional-grade turf; An 8,000-square-foot multiuse gymnasium [that] will be able to accommodate one main basketball court, two cross basketball courts, two volleyball courts or three pickleball courts; A 1/9-mile long track elevated above the fitness area and gymnasium; A 7,600-square-foot fitness area with state-of-the-art equipment, including: A functional fitness area; An outdoor fitness space; A fitness studio; A large community room; [and a] natatorium, which in turn is comprised of: A 125,000-gallon swimming pool with a maximum depth of seven feet; A spa pool with water jets; A leisure pool that includes a 25-yard, four-lane lap pool, a lazy river, and a 20-foot-tall waterslide.” 

The city broke ground on the facility in early 2021, and it is the second new recreational facility to open in Aurora in the last four years.

The other rec center, which opened in 2019, was also funded by taxes from marijuana sales, according to KDVR. The news outlet Westworld reported that the Aurora City Council in 2020 “approved increasing the city’s sales tax on recreational marijuana from 7.75 percent to 8.75 percent, with the additional revenues going to fund youth violence prevention projects.” 

“We are excited to open our newest recreation center and fieldhouse,” Brooke Bell, the director of the Aurora Parks, Recreation and Open Space, said in a press release from the city earlier this month. “After an extensive community engagement process, the feedback received guided the creation of this exceptional facility; we look forward to the community enjoying the space they helped envision for years to come.”

In the press release, the city said that the Southeast Recreation Center is located “near several neighborhoods and the Aurora Reservoir,” and that “the center is a regional destination boasting the first indoor fieldhouse within the city in addition to a variety of other amenities and breathtaking views of the Colorado mountains.”

The construction of the two recreational facilities in Aurora serve as “proof of concept” for advocates who helped Colorado become one of the first two states to legalize recreational cannabis a little more than a decade ago when voters there approved Amendment 64. 

Supporters of marijuana legalization have long contended that a regulated cannabis retail market could be an economic boon for state and local governments. 

“Colorado did what no one had done before,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said at an event in October commemorating the 10th anniversary of the state’s legalization measure, as quoted by the Denver Gazette. “With voter [approval] of Amendment 64, we made history and therefore it is fitting that we are celebrating today 10 years here at History Colorado.”

Polis, a Democrat, has worked to strengthen the marijuana law. Last summer, he signed an executive order “to ensure that no Coloradan is subject to penalization for the possession, cultivation, or use of marijuana as this substance is legal in Colorado as a result of Amendment 64,” his office announced at the time.

“The exclusion of people from the workforce because of marijuana-related activities that are lawful in Colorado, but still criminally penalized in other states, hinders our residents, economy and our State. No one who lawfully consumes, possesses, cultivates or processes marijuana pursuant to Colorado law should be subject to professional sanctions or denied a professional license in Colorado. This includes individuals who consume, possess, cultivate or process marijuana in another state in a manner that would be legal under Colorado law,” Polis said in a statement.

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Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota have begun their push for marijuana legalization, with a bill clearing the first of many legislative hurdles this week. 

The bill “cleared the first of what may be up to a dozen committee hurdles when the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee approved” the measure “by a voice vote Wednesday and sent it to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee,” the Minnesota House of Representatives Public Information Services department reported.

The bill would legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older, and would establish the regulatory framework for legal marijuana sales that would begin within months of the measure’s passage. 

It was introduced by Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives last week.

“Cannabis should not be illegal in Minnesota,” Democratic state House Rep. Zack Stephenson, one of the bill’s authors, said at a press conference announcing the legislation at the state capitol last week. “Minnesotans deserve the freedom and respect to make responsible decisions about cannabis themselves. Our current laws are doing more harm than good. State and local governments are spending millions enforcing laws that aren’t helping anyone.”

Stephenson and his fellow Democrats in St. Paul have long been eager to bring cannabis legalization to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but they have until now been stymied by Republican lawmakers.

But that changed after November’s elections, when Minnesota Democrats regained control of the state Senate and retained their majority in the state House of Representatives. 

The state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, also won re-election this past fall, and has been a vocal advocate for marijuana legalization in Minnesota.

“It’s time to legalize adult-use cannabis and expunge cannabis convictions in Minnesota. I’m ready to sign it into law,” Walz said in a tweet after Democrats introduced the legalization bill earlier this month.

At the committee meeting on Wednesday, Stephenson expressed confidence that the bill, buttressed by public support, would ultimately make it to Walz’s desk.

The news service recapped amendments that were considered at the committee meeting on Wednesday:

“The subject of local control — or lack thereof — was the subject of an amendment unsuccessfully offered by Rep. Kurt Daudt (R-Crown). It would have given cities or towns options to enact local ordinances regulating cannabis business licenses that could differ from those proposed statewide. Two other Republican amendments were adopted. One offered by Rep. Anne Neu Brindley (R-North Branch) would add a health warning for pregnant or breastfeeding women on cannabis products. And an amendment from Rep. Jeff Dotseth (R-Kettle River) would require the Office of Cannabis Management to study the health effects of secondhand cannabis smoke. Stephenson said the Dotseth amendment was a good idea, but noted his bill already would prohibit smoking cannabis in places where smoking is not allowed under the Clean Indoor Air Act.”

Polls have shown that Minnesota voters are ready to enter a post-prohibition era. 

The moves by state Democrats were foreshadowed by one of Minnesota’s best-known politicians, former Gov. Jesse Ventura, who said after the November elections that Walz had called him directly to say that legalization would get done.

“The sticking point for cannabis in Minnesota were Republicans in the (Senate),” Ventura said at the time. “Well, they lost it now, and the governor reassured me that one of the first items that will be passed — Minnesota, get ready — cannabis is going to have its prohibition lifted. That’s the news I got today.”

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At the half-year mark, 2021 US cannabis sales topped $12 billion. That’s as much as consumers spent on milk in all of 2020.

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It’s the pandemic effect: Consumers spent nearly $18 billion on cannabis in 2020, a 67% increase over 2019.

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Texas leads the way with 7% of all illegal cannabis sales.

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