Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) spoke about the state’s path to marijuana legalization this legislative session during an interview this week, calling the policy change a “big social issue that remains” to be addressed in the state and saying he’d likely sign a bill to end cannabis prohibition if one is sent to him by lawmakers.
But Green also said the change “is a little more complicated because the feds have not changed the way they schedule marijuana yet, which is really wacko.”
The governor also pushed back against opponents’ fears that legal cannabis would cause public health problems in the state, saying it could actually bring some benefits.
“I don’t think the sky would fall, honestly, if marijuana were legalized,” Green told Hawaii News Now in an interview that aired on Tuesday, adding: “I also have some thoughts that marijuana might blunt the effect, if you will, of people on these heavy drugs, these horrible drugs.”
Though Hawaii has among the lowest drug overdose death rates in the country, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, 269 people died of drug overdoses in the state in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available.
Cannabis, by contrast, “is a relative sedative,” the governor said.
“People are far less violent. They are much hungrier, but they—aside from the snacking and stealing Cheetos—will probably do less harm,” he quipped.
Legalization advocates struggled under former Democratic Gov. Dave Ige, who resisted the reform in part because he said he was reluctant to pass something that conflicts with federal law. But since Green took office, activists have felt more emboldened. He’s said since 2022 that he’d sign a legalization bill.
Hellbound and Down 