Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez has presented a new plan to legalize the sale and possession of adult use cannabis for people ages 21 and over.
While medical cannabis was legalised in Hawaii in 2000, adult use cannabis remains illegal. The new plans seek to legalize adult use cannabis by 1 January, 2026.
The plan sets out a roadmap for a retail adult use cannabis industry, establishing taxes for adult use sales and setting out a legal path for black market cultivators to transition, enhance law enforcement and improve health education programmes.
The documents, obtained by Hawaii News Now, reveal a plan that has been modelled similarly to States such as Massachusetts, including a social equity programme and the establishment of the Hawaii Cannabis Authority to oversee enforcement, regulation and other aspects of the adult use programme.
The plan also seeks to amend or repeal existing laws relating to cannabis and hemp, and would establish a cannabis regulation special fund that would be used for the implementation, administration, and enforcement of the programme.
According to Hawaii News Now, Lopez stated that the process will be a “concerted investigative process to ensure that the law is followed”.
