On August 9th, The Last Prisoner Project’s policy team presented to the Hawaii Dual Use of Cannabis Task Force. As Hawaii considers a road to cannabis legalization, LPP is urging that criminal justice sits at the center of the conversation. 

For LPP, the intersection between cannabis legalization and criminal justice is defined by retroactive relief. The team believes that, in order to redress the past harms of cannabis criminalization, legalization must provide relief for individuals previously impacted by its prohibition. This includes individuals incarcerated for cannabis-related offenses as well as individuals burdened by a criminal record for cannabis-related offenses. The best way to provide relief for both of these populations is through resentencing and record clearance, ensuring that as an industry booms on one side of prison walls, it doesn’t continue to punish individuals on the other. 

To advise Hawaii on how to justly legalize cannabis, we assessed the gaps in the state’s existing criminal code and developed evidence-based policy recommendations. Ultimately, we set forth the following suggestions for the state to effectively implement justice-informed resentencing and record clearance processes: 

First, the policy team recommended that Hawaii adopt a resentencing process that is state-initiated and has a broad eligibility scheme, a presumption for release, clear judicial guidance, enforceable timelines, and oversight/reporting. Second, the team recommended a record clearance process that is automatic and has a broad and clear eligibility scheme, no waiting period, no discretionary review, a notification process, and oversight/reporting. 

The policy team believes that these research-backed recommendations are essential to fair cannabis legalization in Hawaii, and urges the state to set a national precedent with a thoughtful, just, and retroactive vision of legalization. 

You can read our full report to the Hawaii Dual Use of Cannabis Task Force here.