The Hawaii Senate passed two resolutions 20-5 Thursday, urging Congress to federally legalize marijuana, support state record-clearing efforts for cannabis convictions, and expand banking access for cannabis businesses.
SR58 and SCR64, sponsored by Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D), call on Congress to remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act, support states in clearing defendants’ cannabis offense records, and guarantee cannabis businesses full access to banking services.
Cannabis remains Schedule I under federal law, leaving dispensaries exposed to federal seizures, forfeitures, arrests, and prosecution. Medical cannabis businesses “are hampered by their inability to obtain the full spectrum of private banking services under federal law,” the measures state, and cannabis conviction records “often impact the ability of a person to obtain housing and employment.” A state-commissioned study projected Hawaii’s legal recreational market could surpass $1 billion in sales by its fifth year.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the resolutions the previous week after removing language that compared cannabis’s federal scheduling to alcohol and tobacco—substances not covered by the Controlled Substances Act despite documented harms. Committee chair Sen. Karl Rhoads (D) said those arguments “seem irrelevant” to the cannabis resolutions.
SCR64 now advances to the House of Representatives; if approved, it will be transmitted to President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, congressional leaders of both chambers, and Hawaii’s congressional delegation. SR58 requires no House action and goes directly to those same parties.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee separately passed resolutions asking the state attorney general and health department to seek a DEA exemption letting Hawaii run its medical cannabis program without federal interference.
On broader legalization, a bill to legalize low-dose, low-potency marijuana died after missing a key deadline. SB 2421, which conditioned legalization on federal law changes or a state constitutional amendment, was deferred, as was a hemp-derived cannabinoid products bill. Key House lawmakers had already indicated cannabis legalization would not advance in the 2026 session. A separate Senate committee bill letting patients access medical cannabis immediately upon registration submission—rather than awaiting card delivery—remains active, as does a House-approved bill creating a psychedelics task force to study psilocybin and MDMA. Legislation allowing qualifying patients to use medical marijuana at health facilities also advanced this session.
