Meetings
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[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Alright, we're live. Okay, everyone. Welcome back. 11:25 on Wednesday the thirteenth. So, we have now, in our inboxes and posted on our page draft 2.1 to S two seventy eight with what we believe are the final amended provisions for us to review and make sure the language is what we intended it to be. So while we're taking a peek at that, please take your time. But I also want to open up the table to any discussion and further comment on the bill as presented, since we have a good tent to vote it out before lunch. We're having go.
[Lucy Boyden (Clerk)]: Thank you. I think we did a lot of good work on this bill as it came over from the Senate. There were some concerning pieces of the bill. We got a few of them cleared up. I still have concern about the events, even though there are not as many as what came over from the Senate. My main concern is around the ability of public safety to adequately assist with these events. And this came up in a previous biennium. It came up last year when we had events in the bill. So I just wanted to make that clear that that's my objection to the bill at this point.
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: So
[Lucy Boyden (Clerk)]: thank you all for your work. Understood.
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Any other comment? That was a jump ball. Let you two just Yeah.
[Chea Waters Evans (Ranking Member)]: I don't use it, please.
[Kate Nugent (Member)]: It's fine. Yeah. I think this is a little bit in the middle for me. Since I'm still concerned about our lack of really great testing as far as impairment goes and around service of people and how we are going to know if they're over served or not at events. I think we have a lot of history with other substances, but this one acts differently on people. I think that there's opportunity for communities to have input and oversight over these events in this bill, which I think is important. And I think CCB has a track record of developing rules that are careful and considered. I kind of wish we had a little more time to discuss some of these things. I that was I just hope that whatever evaluation measures are put in place are strong, and so we can really have a robust discussion about how it goes later on, including incidents and where things happen and overall rates that occur in the state and where I'm at last month.
[Chea Waters Evans (Ranking Member)]: I appreciate that Nugent bringing up the check back stuff for the report on the events. I believe it's important, and I'm hopeful that everything goes great. It's a very short report, but it's good to know that we have it in place. And I think everything else, we've reached a pretty good compromise point on stuff, and I feel comfortable moving ahead with it as it is.
[Michael Morgan (Member)]: I think Chris oh, go ahead. No. No. That's
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: We can go to representative. Yeah, piling on to what we'll add with Chea and Kate. Yeah, in the past, I was a hard no on events. I'm willing to dip the toe in the water, and I think that was a big compromise that we came up with going from 10 to five and five, and we'll see how it draws out if this goes through. Steve? Rhett, still leave that cup.
[Michael Morgan (Member)]: Despite my strong feelings about this body and football, the work that's been done is remarkable. And I feel comfortable moving ahead. I do want it in the record. I truly believe this bill is very close to a death warrant for the public. Said, don't have to put up with me in the new biennium. It's said, it's on the record, I feel strongly about it. I feel strongly about it as it relates to the interventions of law enforcement and their capacity to be able to handle this because we don't have enough information about the facts. And I think that this also is a contributor to broadening the criminal peripheral aspects of the co conspirators that would destroy people's lives. Been an honor to work through this with you, and I appreciate
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: your dealing with me or putting up with me in this particular matter. Thank you all. Yeah. And and all the opinions here, we're we're all here as individuals, as representatives for our communities. We all have careers and backgrounds that are relevant to the work. So humbly and respectfully, don't bother at all, sir. Representative Coffin.
[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: Again, my biggest problem with this, and but I'll start with it. I like how this committee, we can talk. We can find compromises. We can work together. I do appreciate that the committee on the events, you know, did change it down to five, five and five instead of the ten and ten that were in there. But I'm still a no because the events are in there and because I don't believe we have the safety precautions in place yet to support this. But for all the other work that's in it, there's there are parts in it that I did voice that I appreciate and I understand and that I do support in the bill. But with the events in there, I can't I won't be able to support this bill coming out of committee or on the floor. And, you know, that was clear yesterday. Yeah. So but I do appreciate the work the committee did to make it even though I think it's a bad bill, to make it a better bad bill. That we're helping to make better bad decisions.
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Thank you, sir. Anything else from the table?
[Michael Morgan (Member)]: Entertain a motion.
[Lucy Boyden (Clerk)]: Want me to run through the changes? Yeah, think we should.
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Oh, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, go ahead. I got a little ahead of myself Excuse counsel. I
[Legislative Counsel (unidentified)]: can just share my screen. So this is on page 12. And this now, this has to do with what can be regulated by municipalities. So accepted ordinances may not regulate public nuisances as applied to now just a tier one manufacturers or the outdoor cultivators, outdoor cultivators in the current statute. So you're just adding this bill, which just adds in the tier one manufacturers, but it takes out the indoor cultivators.
[Chea Waters Evans (Ranking Member)]: Page 30.
[Legislative Counsel (unidentified)]: So, this now, section 30 on page 30, just adds in that language. So, landlords can prohibit in rental agreements the use of lighted cannabis or cannabis products intended for inhalation within the rental premises. And then the corresponding change in Section 31, the section does not prohibit a landlord from banning use of lighted cannabis or cannabis products intended for inhalation in a lease agreement. Those were the two changes.
[Kate Nugent (Member)]: Just a clarifying question, which is going to maybe sound dumb to some people, but why would you want to have 150 joints worth of this on you or be able to wrap around with that or possess it?
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Some people just go into the store once. Mean, Yeah. I mean, know what I'm saying? I mean, it's like going to a liquor store and buying a six month supply of whatever your perfume products are. Carton? Yeah. Carton cigarettes. Yeah. What's a pack? 20 ton? There's 200 cigarettes. You have a card? Or is that a hand?
[Chea Waters Evans (Ranking Member)]: I do go to Costco and buy two packs of paper towels at the same time, and there's a lot of paper towels that I am not going to immediately post, but I do hate going there. No offense to Costco, but it's
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: difficult. Can be a bit of
[Lucy Boyden (Clerk)]: a scrum.
[Chea Waters Evans (Ranking Member)]: It is difficult at times to go there. So I try to do it all at once. Also, because some people don't live near a place where they can where they have access to it because of, you know, the towns that have
[Kate Nugent (Member)]: decided or not decided to. So we would hope that they would just be one trip. Would be everything. So that thing so is contraband? Well, it's not contraband. That's the whole point. Not contraband.
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Don't even contrabanded it. No, it wasn't.
[Chea Waters Evans (Ranking Member)]: No, and also, no, not a dumb question at all. I also, well, guess this does not tie to the medical aspect of it, right?
[Kate Nugent (Member)]: Yeah, a bucket.
[Michael Morgan (Member)]: Different thresholds. Yes.
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Alright, anything else further from the table?
[Michael Morgan (Member)]: You entertain a motion?
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Yes, I'll do it. I make a motion that we find favorable S two seventy eight Act relating to cannabis draft number 2.2. Any further comment or discussion?
[Michael Morgan (Member)]: No. All right, clerk, please call
[Lucy Boyden (Clerk)]: the roll. Representative Boyden, yes. Representative Coffin?
[VL Coffin IV (Member)]: No.
[Lucy Boyden (Clerk)]: Representative Mango? No. Representative Hooper?
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Yes.
[Lucy Boyden (Clerk)]: Representative Morgan?
[Michael Morgan (Member)]: Yes.
[Lucy Boyden (Clerk)]: Representative Nugent? Yes. Representative Pinsonault? Yes. Representative Scoille?
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Yes.
[Lucy Boyden (Clerk)]: Representative Stone? Yes. Representative Water Evans? Yes. Representative Birong?
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: Yes. And Representative Boyden will be the reporter for the bill.
[Kate Nugent (Member)]: Nine two zero.
[Matthew Birong (Chair)]: All right. Good job, team. This is always a very complicated subject matter, and I will echo some of the sentiments at the table. I think we made this bill better in many ways. So I appreciate all the work. And that wraps up the committee work for the day. We'll be back tomorrow morning. Our 09:30 fell through. We're gonna try and maybe find something to fill that gap in with other moving parts. But as of now, our agenda item starts at 10:30 with at sixty four. We'll be up on the trails and up on all these conversations.