MEDICAL POT FARM, BOTTLED-WATER FEE ON AGENDA

Legislature 2008

Tomorrow is the 12th day of the 60-day session.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The House Health Committee held hearings Friday on bills that would
establish secure facilities on Maui to grow medical marijuana and
recognize out-of-state certification to use marijuana for medicinal
purposes in Hawa'i.

If House Bill 2675 passes, qualified patients would not have to get
additional certification from the state Department of Public Safety.

House Bill 2678 deals more with safety, since patients are finding it
difficult to grow their medical grade marijuana plants quickly enough
to be able to use them as needed. "If you fail, your medicine is
gone," said Rep. Joe Bertram III, D-11th (Makena, Wailea, Kihei).

In addition, Bertram said, confusion among law enforcement officials
and problems with people stealing plants have made growing at home
even more dangerous.

Bertram's bill proposes to create a secure farm where 14 patients can
rent plots and collectively grow a total of 98 plants.

BOTTLED WATER

The International Bottled Water Association sent out a press release
last week to note its opposition to a bill that would impose a
surcharge on bottled water produced or distributed in Hawai'i.

The bill, introduced by House Energy and Environmental Protection
chairwoman Hermina Morita and others, would use the surcharge to help
protect and preserve the state's 12 major watershed areas, which have
no dedicated funding source.

Meanwhile the water bottlers are profiting off a state resource
without paying any royalties to the state, Morita said.

While the IBWA argued that the surcharge would raise the price of
"this healthy, safe product" significantly, the bill introducers
wrote that advertising for bottled water can undermine confidence in
municipal water supplies, which are actually subject to more
regulation than bottled water.

"It's really funny because most of the bottled water is municipal
water with filters or minerals added," Morita said.

House Bill 3445 also contends that bottled water is not
environmentally friendly: "Often originating from tap water, bottled
water is contained in petroleum-based plastic bottles, are hauled
long distances to be sold for exorbitant prices, and disposed of in
ever-shrinking landfills."

The bottled water association, however, said the surcharge is "a
narrowly focused, punitive tax."

COMING UP

Public testimony has already been taken on the medical marijuana
bills and the bottled water bill, but the committees plan to make
their decisions this week.

Bottled water: The Energy and Environmental Committee and the Water,
Land, Ocean Resources and Hawaiian Affairs Committee held a joint
hearing Thursday and have scheduled decision-making for 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Medical marijuana: Decision-making will be at the end of the Health
Committee agenda on Wednesday. The meeting starts at 8 a.m.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"We don't want to give false hope anymore and we don't want people
being stabbed or attacked in their homes or just having to go without
what they need to get rid of their pain."

- -- Rep. Joe Bertram III, D-11th (Makena, Wailea, Kihei), on why he
wants qualified patients to have safer access to medical marijuana.