|
Okabe: But however, even if they resist at the State, the investigation and everything is
<br />at the County level, right, you know what I mean? For when they gotta go to the
<br />policing and stuff like that where agents are from the County. So, any legislation that
<br />goes to the State, even if it's the revenue, the County has to be involved in the
<br />discussion as to what is going to be the parameters of the County.
<br />Takase: Yes, so even if they kept it at the State level, if we were to take over
<br />enforcement of it, it would probably be with a big grant or something, but Police get a lot
<br />of money from the State through the AG's (Attorney General's) and whatever to help run
<br />all their programs, you know Green Harvest and these things, those are basically State-
<br />runned programs. So, I would expect we would do something similar, but I got a feeling
<br />they're not going to give it up. So, you know, we're probably a little ways off, you know
<br />but every year it comes up in the legislature, so one of these days it will make it through
<br />think.
<br />Greenwell: Well for your information, couple years back, Brandon and I went to I
<br />believe it was Portland or Seatle, anyway, at that time they told us if you plan to take
<br />over the marijuana in your liquor department, plan for five years of education and three
<br />years of multiplying your enforcement, they said it's that bad compared to alcohol. And
<br />they told us from Canada to the Northwest, they said they're swamped with problems,
<br />they said alcohol became second nature. They're all concerned about the marijuana
<br />and the illegal production, they said it's a headache, they told us, that was five years
<br />maybe.
<br />Gonzalez: Yes, Portland right, 2021, 1 think.
<br />Takase: So, it's been kind of a good social experiment because we've monitored what
<br />has happened, so Colorado was the first state to go and it's kind of out of control right
<br />now, they're saying they've lost control of it. What they did was they just treated it like
<br />liquor, and you could apply for a growing permit up to 25 plants. So, they did that and
<br />that's how they were going to deal with it, but what they didn't anticipate happening was
<br />all the cartels had moved in, and so they're buying up houses and warehouses, and
<br />whatever they can find, and then they're just stockpiling permits, so they have huge
<br />growing operations. So, once you grow inside of the United States, it's hard for them to
<br />control, to cross the borders they have border security and all that, but once they're in
<br />the United States, they have very little control over them. So, they're probably the hub
<br />for marijuana production and distribution in the U.S. (United States) now. I look at
<br />Washington, I think has the best model that we've seen so far, and what Washington
<br />does is they actually grow all the marijuana themselves. And somehow, they're able to
<br />introduce an isotope into the plant, so when the police recover the marijuana, they can
<br />tell, I guess they just shoot it with infrared, and they can tell right away if it's theirs or
<br />not, and if it's not theirs, then you'll be arrested. So, it's becoming that level of
<br />sophistication, it's a lot harder than liquor because liquor is highly regulated, it's
<br />produced by manufacturers and stuff. You know marijuana is still kind of a cottage
<br />industry, how they get it and how it's done is still all over the board, so there's no one
<br />mechanism, so that's why they're having so much trouble with enforcing it. And then,
<br />once it's kind of legalized, it's hard to enforce because before you could go by smell, but
<br />MINUTES - LIQUOR COMMISSION MEETING & PUBLIC HEARING - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2024 - HILO PAGE 19 OF 30
<br />
|