Hawaii: Cannabis Decriminalization Bill Fails Amid Unified Legislative Opposition
In a surprising turn of events, both proponents and opponents of cannabis reform in Hawaii joined forces to defeat a bill aimed at decriminalizing marijuana further.
The bill, known as SB2487, would have eased penalties for possession and use of marijuana but was rejected in a vote of 16 to 9 in the state legislature. Sen. Angus McKelvey (D) explained his opposition by highlighting potential risks.
“The Senate sent a very good, reasonable, recreational legalization bill with guard rails over to the other chamber. In other states where the rush to decriminalization is outpacing their own recreational medical marijuana market; you could have a black market that could explode. Thereby undercutting and creating all the safety hazards that the bill that we sent over would have addressed,” McKelvey stated.
The bill aimed to remove certain penalties under the …