JETTIN' TO THE PROMISED LAND

JETTIN' TO THE PROMISED LAND: Upon disembarking, many Kaua`i tourist have been heard to happily exclaim that they feel like they just stepped back in time.

And sometimes- not so happily for kama`aina- it feels like even the interisland airlines are actually running a time machine.

How else do you explain the fact that when we wrote about the bizarre anachronistic fear-mongering emanating from the the Kaua`i prosecutor's and police chief's offices that resulted in a semi-aborted "rally" against the scourge of the evil weed, some mainland and even O`ahu readers thought we might be fabricating the extent of the fanaticism.

So thanks goodness they also scheduled flights back to the 21st century- or the Honolulu equivalent.

As loath as we are to give them too much credit, it's apparent that, with a little backing and a little luck, Hawai`i legislators just might be ready to grow up and leave the naysayers mired in their own skewed, self-serving world.

Because, believe it or not, three key bills on marijuana reform have passed the senate, "crossed over," passed first reading on the house side and received committee referrals.

Of course they have a long way to go but never before have any similar measures even gotten out of committee much less crossed over.

The two medical marijuana bills are astounding enough. The first, SB175 SD2, remedies that counter-intuitive set-up contained in the original law that put the program in the Department of Public Safety- the state agency that administers the prison system- and places it where any medical program belongs- in the Department of Health (DOH). That means that, among other things, rather than the "list" of patients being available to law enforcement agencies they will now have to check the participation of individual patients with the DOH.

SB175 SD2 has passed the senate and first reading in the house and been referred to a joint committee of the Heath and Public Safety/Military Affairs and the Finance committee.

One political note: as if to prove how out of touch some on Kaua`i are, the only "no" vote in the senate was from our own Senator, Ron Kouchi, who somehow was elected this past November, perhaps because he has brown-nosed the good old boys' political machine for so long- and had a war chest to prove it- that no one chose to oppose him.

The second bill, SB1458 SB2, remedies other absurdities in the original law by creating a path to "medical marijuana compassion center license(s) for the sale of medical marijuana to qualified patients." It also creates a "medical marijuana cultivation license" and a "medical marijuana-infused products manufacturing license" which would all be further defined and regulated by the DOH through administrative rules- rules which would be subject to public hearings. And for all you fiscal conservatives out there it "(e)stablishes a fee for issuance and renewal of a license and a special marijuana sales tax."

It has also passed the senate and first reading in the house and has been referred to a joint committee of the Heath and Public Safety/Military Affairs and the Finance committee.

The third, SB1460 SD1, is the miracle legislation which "(e)stablishes a civil violation for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana that is subject to a fine of not more than $100, and establishes an adjudicatory structure for its enforcement." That means that even though it would still technically be "illegal," possession of less than an ounce would be treated like a traffic ticket, not a "crime."

SB1460 SD1 also has passed the senate and first reading in the house and will go to a joint committee of the Heath and Public Safety/Military Affairs and the Judiciary committee.

It goes without saying these days that keeping possession by adults of small amounts of marijuana illegal is not only draconian but is costing taxpayers dearly. The only ones who oppose this are apparently those who stand to keep reaping the benefits of appropriations and grants... as well as the cash cow of the forfeiture laws.

The only problem is that all three bills, if passed in their current form, wouldn't take effect until July 1, 2050.

Well, no one can say the legislature doesn't have a sense of humor.