House lawmakers took no action on legislation that sought to eliminate patients’ longstanding rights to cultivate medical marijuana.
House Bill 1680 sought to repeal patients’ legal authority to cultivate personal use quantities of cannabis. The legislation was not heard in time for the filing deadline and therefore will no longer be considered by lawmakers during this legislative session.
NORML maintains that criminalizing the personal cultivation of cannabis is an arbitrary prohibition that has absolutely no basis in public safety. We support the right of individuals to grow their own cannabis as an alternative to purchasing it from licensed commercial producers. NORML further maintains that the inclusion of legislative provisions protecting the non-commercial home cultivation of cannabis serves as leverage to assure the product available at retail outlets is high quality, safe and affordable.
Permitting home cultivation provides patients with steady, uninterrupted access to unique strains of medicinal cannabis that are best tailored to their individual needs. Many patients may not be able to access dispensaries or find necessary strains and formulations available at these facilities.
NORML would like to thank everyone who contacted their lawmakers and urged them to reject HB 1680.
Additional information about this and other pending legislation is available from the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii here.
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws – Advocacy Campaigns
