Legalized gambling likely dead, recreational marijuana still alive

Mar. 7—Bills to legalize some form of gambling in Hawaii and recreational marijuana are introduced routinely, but have ultimately failed in previous years.

State House and Senate bills to allow a lottery, casino, online gambling and bets on fantasy sports never gained traction to make it to this week's midpoint of the legislative session, while the effort to legalize adult recreational marijuana use survived in the Senate but, once again, faces an uncertain fate in the House.

Bills to legalize some form of gambling in Hawaii and recreational marijuana are introduced routinely, but have ultimately failed in previous years.

Last year the Senate approved legalizing recreational marijuana only to see the effort die after moving over at the midway point to the House, where Rep. David Tarnas, (D, Hawi-­Waimea-Waikoloa ), who chairs the committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, declined to even hold a hearing. Senate Bill 66 was vague and incomplete and left the authority to regulate recreational marijuana up to "an unelected board, " he said Wednesday.

This session, however, the latest version of SB 3335, Tarnas said, provides specifics and other details that he wants to review and discuss "to try to address concerns. It's a complicated bill and we have a lot of skeptical members so I have a lot to answer for. The public wants the Legislature to take this seriously."

SB 3335 would create the Hawaii Cannabis Authority and Cannabis Control Board within the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs "to regulate all aspects of the cannabis plant, " including the legalization of adult recreational use.

It was approved by the 25-member Senate on Tuesday with 19 senators voting aye—including six with reservations—and six no votes.

Nikos Leverenz of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawai 'i has been advocating for adult use of recreational marijuana for 20 years—first in California and later in Hawaii.

Even though the amended version of SB 669 died in the House last year, Leverenz remains optimistic that SB 3335 will lead to legalized recreational marijuana use after the end of the current session, which is scheduled to adjourn May 3.

He called SB 3335 "by far the most substantive draft vehicle that we've had, even though it's still way too heavy on criminalization and law enforcement."

In a statement, Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, said, "Hawai 'i is behind the times on cannabis policy reform, but 2024 could be the year that finally changes. Right now, Hawai 'i lawmakers have the opportunity to not only pass legalization and regulation, but also to work to improve the bill to ensure it is rooted in justice and equity, not an excessively punitive approach. Cannabis legalization is an essential criminal justice reform, and Hawai 'i lawmakers should treat it as such by focusing far more on education, reinvesting in communities, reparative justice, and building an equitable and inclusive industry."

Political analyst Neal Milner predicts the Legislature will follow previous failed attempts to legalize recreational marijuana, especially with so much attention on spending needs to address the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires.

"Legislators don't like any more controversy than is essential, especially because of Lahaina, certainly because of Lahaina, " Milner said.

Instead of drawing attention to legalized recreational marijuana, Milner believes legislators instead will kick the issue to a different session because their typical attitude remains "a political version of, if it's not broken leave it alone."

The years-long effort to legalize medical marijuana shows that the Legislature typically "is very cautious, " Milner said.

Meanwhile, Hawaii and Utah remain the only two states without any legalized form of gambling.

Various House and Senate bills would have allowed a casino, online gambling, betting on fantasy sports leagues and a sports book. While some bills were rolled over from the 2023 legislative session, none of them have gotten far.

Some of the gambling bills from 2023 never even got a hearing this session.

Despite the steady stream of Hawaii gamblers visiting Las Vegas, Milner said there remains little desire to legalize gaming in Hawaii.

"Gambling doesn't get any (tail ) winds here because it never gets any (tail ) winds, " Milner said.

"It needs a kind of constituency, a very broad constituency, that the pro gambling people have never been able to get here."

Early in the 2021 legislative session, senators killed controversial SB 1321 that had been rewritten to give the Hawaiian Home Lands Commission five years to figure out whether it wanted to permit any form of gambling on Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property on Oahu—whether it be a casino, lottery, bingo or even horse racing.

DHHL originally proposed to build a casino resort to generate millions of dollars to help clear the backlog of more than 28, 000 beneficiaries waiting for homes and land.

DHHL's proposal divided Home Lands beneficiaries and the commission itself, which voted 5 to 4 to forward the idea to the Legislature just before the start of the 2021 session.

Instead, in the 2022 legislative session, lawmakers appropriated a record $600 million to fulfill the promise to provide Hawaiians with homes.

While Hawaii people enjoy visiting Las Vegas, Milner said the allure goes beyond just gambling.

With so many Hawaii residents moving to less-­expensive Las Vegas, Milner said visits by Hawaii people let them reunite with friends and family with the ability to dine at high-end restaurants and enjoy world-class performances by artists who rarely visit Hawaii.

"It's not just the gambling, " Milner said. "It's a different kind of experience—shows and easy flights. Vegas knows how to cater to Hawaii people."