HB 2677 - Lowest Enforceable Priority Bill - Support


This bill does not tell police to ignore state or federal law; it simply tells them where on the schedule of priorities these arrests fall. The State of Hawaii taxpayers are burdened by the substantial costs of investigating, arresting, prosecuting and jailing people for charges involving marijuana. Otherwise law-abiding adults are being arrested or imprisoned for nonviolent marijuana offenses, clogging our courts and jails. The current laws against marijuana needlessly harm patients who use it for legitimate medical purposes.

Each year, according to the recent research of economist Lawrence W. Boyd, PhD. of the University of Hawai'i West Oahu, state and county law enforcement agencies spend $4.1 million per year to enforce marijuana possession laws; an additional $2.1 million is spent by the courts. The total cost of enforcing simple marijuana possession laws in Hawai'i is approximately 6.2 million dollars. Boyd continued "Between 1994 and 2003, the price of one ounce of high quality marijuana dropped by 12 percent. The price decline reveals that law enforcement efforts to restrict supply have not been effective. This 6.2 million dollars would be more effectively spent elsewhere."

With more people in jail for non-violent, misdemeanor marijuana possession offenses (696,074 Americans in 2006) than any other civilized country in the world, it is evident that the federal government's war on drugs is not working. The total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2006 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Annual marijuana arrests have nearly tripled since the early 1990s. The federal government has refused to change their policies and has instead stepped up the prosecution of those who simply possess marijuana. The State of Hawai'i must set a precedent on a state level.

The National Drug Intellegence Center's May 2002 Hawai'i Drug Threat Assessment reports that "Violence generally is not associated with marijuana distribution or abuse in Hawai'i."

According to the State of Hawai'i Department of Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division, Honolulu medical examiner, the Hawai'i Student Alcohol, Tobacco and other drug use study, State Unifoirm Crime Reporting, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. there are many indicators of a worsening methemphetamine ("ice") problem in Hawai'i.

"Ice" is especially a concern in Hawai'i, which has the highest population of Meth users per capita in the United States, according to the DEA. The Honolulu Police Department's Narcotics/Vice Division head Maj. Kevin Lima has said that "ice" use has been linked to property crimes such as burglaries and auto thefts, and that paranoid behavior caused by the drug can sometimes lead to violent crimes. According to Hawai'i's U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo, "Ice use has been linked to about 44% of this state's homicides."

Substance abuse has been shown to to be the leading cause of child abuse and neglect in Hawai'i. Drugs account for some 90 percent of about 2300 confirmed child abuse cases per year according to the Child Protective Service - And, ice, is the number 1 drug involved

The federal War on Drugs appears to have made the "ice" problem worse in Hawaii. Starting in the 1980s, State and local police officers began working with the DEA in a campaign to eradicate and suppress marijuana in Hawai'i. Although the process did not literally eradicate marijuana, it has coincided with an increase of the price of marijuana, causing an increased interest in "ice" because of the ability to obtain it from inexpensive pseudoephedrine sources.