Bill Text: HI HCR89 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Requesting The United States Congress To Enact Legislation Removing Cannabis From The Federal Controlled Substances Act And Facilitate The Full Spectrum Of Private Banking Services For Cannabis-related Business.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-1)

Status: (Passed) 2019-04-22 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HCR89 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2019-HCR89-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

89

THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting the United States Congress to enact legislation removing cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act and facilitate the full spectrum of private banking services for cannabis-related business.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, 33 states, four United States territories, and the District of Columbia have authorized the use of medical cannabis; twenty-two states, the United States Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia have decriminalized cannabis; and 10 states, the Northern Mariana Islands, the District of Columbia, and three Native American tribes have legalized adult-use of cannabis; and

 

     WHEREAS, data submitted by the Hawaii Attorney General to the United States Department of Justice over the past decade indicates that there are over 1,000 arrests for cannabis possession in Hawaii each year, including hundreds of juveniles who might not otherwise encounter the criminal justice system, and that Native Hawaiians are disproportionately arrested for cannabis possession; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii enacted Act 228, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, which authorized the acquisition, possession, and use of medical cannabis, and authorized the establishment and regulation of medical cannabis dispensaries through Act 241, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are currently over 24,000 medical cannabis patients registered with the Hawaii Department of Health; and

     WHEREAS, continued scheduling of cannabis under the federal Controlled Substances Act impairs the ability of medical cannabis dispensaries and other cannabis-related businesses to operate without the prospect of federal seizures, forfeitures, arrests, and other enforcement and prosecutorial actions; and

 

     WHEREAS, alcohol and tobacco remain outside the purview of the federal Controlled Substances Act and have significant negative impacts on individual and public health, including physical injuries, psychological and social harm, and the onset of chronic, often fatal illnesses related to regular use; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's medical cannabis dispensaries and other cannabis-related businesses, including those providing goods, services, property, and facilities to cannabis-related businesses, are hampered by the inability to obtain the full spectrum of private banking services under federal law; and

 

     WHEREAS, legislation has been introduced in recent years by members of Congress to facilitate the full spectrum of banking services, including deposit insurance, for cannabis-related businesses; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, the Senate concurring, that this body hereby requests the United States Congress to enact legislation that will remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act and facilitate the full spectrum of private banking services for cannabis-related business; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, Vice President of the United States, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Majority Leaders and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, and members of Hawaii's congressional

delegation with the respectful request that the full and complete text of this Concurrent Resolution be printed in the Congressional Record.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Cannabis; Banking Services; Congress

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