The Hawaii state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill to legalize recreational marijuana for adults and create a regulated and taxed market for adult-use cannabis. After approval in the Senate by a vote of 19-6, the legislation now heads to the state House of Representatives, where cannabis reform advocates hope new amendments will be made to the measure.
If passed by the House and signed into law by the governor, the legislation (Senate Bill 3335) would allow adults aged 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and up to five grams of cannabis concentrates. The measure, which would go into effect on January 1, 2026, would also permit the home cultivation of up to six marijuana plants and allow for the possession of up to two pounds of harvested homegrown weed. The bill was introduced in the legislature in January and was approved by Senate legislative committees in February and earlier this week.
The bill, which is largely based on a weed legalization proposal released by Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez last year, would also create a new state agency to regulate hemp, medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis. Dubbed the Hawaii Hemp and Cannabis Authority, the agency would be tasked with licensing cannabis and hemp businesses and regulating the industry. The legislation would also create a five-member Cannabis Control Board for oversight of the new agency.
The cannabis legalization bill also expunges the records of past arrests and convictions for actions that are permitted or decriminalized under the measure, including marijuana possession charges. Petition-based expungements would begin on January 1, 2026, including petitions to review cannabis-related sentences.
Cannabis Activists Seek Changes To Bill
While acknowledging the progress made with the passage of the marijuana legalization bill in the Hawaii Senate, many cannabis policy advocates are critical of provisions of the measure that create new criminal penalties for some actions. The Hawaiʻi Alliance for Cannabis Reform (HACR) notes in a brief that the bill creates an unscientific DUI law that sets an arbitrary limit of 10 nanograms per milliliter of THC in a driver’s system, an amount that can remain long after impairment wears off. Another provision highlighted by reform advocates would subject those found with loose cannabis, a cannabis package that has ever been opened, or a marijuana pipe in an automobile to up to 30 days in jail.
Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, said “Hawai’i is behind the times on cannabis policy reform, but 2024 could be the year that finally changes.”
“Right now, Hawai’i lawmakers have the opportunity to not only pass legalization and regulation, but also to work to improve the bill to ensure it is rooted in justice and equity, not an excessively punitive approach,” O’Keefe said in a statement from the marijuana policy reform advocacy. “Cannabis legalization is an essential criminal justice reform, and Hawai’i lawmakers should treat it as such by focusing far more on education, reinvesting in communities, reparative justice, and building an equitable and inclusive industry.”
Activists with HACR have submitted proposals to amend SB 3335 to address what they see as shortcomings of the legislation. One proposed amendment would eliminate the per se THC limit for drivers, while another would eliminate the open container provisions of the bill. Additional proposed amendments from the group include clarifying that expungements and resentencing will be initiated by the state, removing restrictions on public consumption and the addition of provisions for small business and social equity licenses in the regulated cannabis market.
Nikos Leverenz of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawai’i and the Hawai’i Health and Harm Reduction Center called for the proposed amendments to be added to the legislation in the House of Representatives.
“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,” Leverenz said in an emailed statement. “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.”
Legalizing recreational marijuana is supported by a majority of Hawaiians. A recent Hawai’i Perspectives poll found that 58% of the state’s residents are in favor of “legalizing marijuana to allow possession, manufacture, and sale of marijuana by and to adults, under state licensing, regulation, and taxation.”
If the bill is passed by the legislature and signed into law by Democratic Gov. Josh Green, Hawaii would join the other 24 states that have legalized recreational marijuana for adults.