Policy Recommendations Hawaii

2019-2020 Improvements and Recommendations for Hawaii

In 2019, Aloha state lawmakers worked but failed to reach agreement on a broad adult-use measure, though a bill did make it through the legislature that replaces jail time with a $130 fine for possession of three grams of cannabis or less. While this is an improvement over a previously-existing law that would have imposed a 30-day jail sentence and a fine of up to as much as $1,000, the three gram ceiling established by Hawaii is the smallest amount of any state that has passed decriminalization.

As noted in ASA's 2018-2019 report, Hawaii still needs to improve its product safety standards after an October 2018 study revealed that 20 percent of products failed laboratory testing. No legislative or regulatory changes were made to address this issue, which left unchecked imposes serious risks to patient health and raises serious questions about the integrity of the state's program.