HONOLULU – Hawaii’s law enforcement community, led by Honolulu prosecutor Steve Alm, is lining up against the state attorney general’s plan to legalise the adult use of marijuana.
Although leading lawmakers gave the proposal a warm welcome, Alm says opponents now have ammunition from the experience of other states.
Alm said the law enforcement community was shocked when Attorney General Anne Lopez, the state’s top law enforcement officer, dropped her opposition to legalisation.
“And when we met with them, I told Anne that, you know, she said, ‘The train has left the station. We don’t think the train has left the station,” Alm said. During her confirmation hearing, Attorney General Lopez promised a marijuana legalisation plan with a law enforcement perspective.
Lopez’s special assistant on the issue, David Day, said that was part of the process.
“The Department of Law Enforcement, which is the lead law enforcement agency in this state, worked with the Attorney General’s office on this bill,” Day said.
Still, in addition to police and prosecutors, Alm predicts opposition from health experts, educators and even the visitor industry.
“Because it’s not broken,” Alm said. “Right now, to me, there is no impetus to change the system.”
Alm said medical marijuana laws and decriminalisation have already made marijuana available to almost anyone, and that research in other states shows that super-potent cannabis is causing everything from traffic deaths to mental illness.
“Kids are going to emergency rooms thinking they’re going crazy,” Alm said. “Because it’s such a powerful drug, it’s a completely different drug.”
Day said the attorney general was aware of the risks.
“What we’ve tried to do is put forward a bill that tries to mitigate as many of those risks as possible,” Day said.
In an interview with Hawaii News Now last week, Lopez said the bill provides for health oversight, education and requirements for testing and labelling about potency. “So that we can make sure that the right people are able to buy it and not children and not teenagers,” Lopez said.
The bill also offers grants and assistance to illegal growers to lure them out of the black market. Alm said that hasn’t worked in other states, and neither will the attorney general’s promise to step up enforcement against illegal growers.
“It’s total BS,” Alm said. “They talk about having a dedicated law enforcement team. Right now they have the HPD, which has almost 2000 members.”
Although many hoped that this would be the year that marijuana would be legalised, the opposition of law enforcement, combined with the overwhelming needs of Maui County, may put the issue off for another year.