Hawaii, in 2000, became the first state to legislatively approve having and using marijuana for medical purposes.

Other states or jurisdictions had allowed the use of the illegal substance with citizens voting on the issue. All in all, Hawaii was the eighth state to legalize the use of medical marijuana.

Critics worried that the release would immediately trigger demands for full legalization, with the probability that recreational use of marijuana was right around a very near corner.

That hasn’t happened, but 19 years later, this year’s Legislature is toying with the idea.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 686, to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and add a 15 percent tax on its sale.

The committee report noted that 10 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational use of marijuana by adults, and “recent polling indicates broad public support in Hawaii for the legalization of cannabis.”

Right away the administration of Gov. David Ige came out in opposition. The state Department of Transportation pointed to “a considerable amount of motor vehicle crashes that resulted in injury and death” with drivers having consumed marijuana.

The state Department of Taxation said it would be a tough job to figure how to apply the new tax and it didn’t want the responsibility of administering the new law.

And Hawaii’s attorney general added that marijuana is still illegal under federal law.

“It is a violation of federal law to grow, distribute, or use marijuana. Although this bill could legalize conduct that is currently prohibited under state law, federal laws regarding the nonmedical use of marijuana cannot be ignored,” the AG’s office said in committee testimony.

Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard said HPD doesn’t like legalizing marijuana because it would make it easier for kids to get it, even though the law restricts its allowed use to those 21 and over.

On a political note, the Honolulu Republican Party caucus came out against legalizing marijuana, while two groups within the Hawaii Democratic Party support the bill, noting that legalizing marijuana is a plank in the Democratic Party’s 2018 platform.

“This bill will dramatically reduce marijuana arrests and convictions, and generate substantial tax revenues; states that have already legalized marijuana are diminishing many of the worst harms of prohibition,” said Josh Frost, co-chairman of the Democrats’ legislation committee.

So essentially the debate moves to the Legislature with predictable supporters and opponents picking their expected sides and standing pat, leaving the lawmakers to either move the bill forward or come back another year.

Legislators are saying that there is no real guidance from federal law enforcement because even though the Trump administration’s Justice Department was reviewing medical marijuana state laws, there is a new attorney general and policing the issue is just inconsistent.

State Rep. Della Au Belatti, the no-nonsense House majority leader who mostly wrote the latest version of the medical marijuana bill, said supporters are hoping that the push after the 2018 elections will translate into the some political urgency to approve a marijuana legalization bill this session. But the bill still holds many questions. Can it clear the Senate, and then, will there be enough momentum to move it in the usually more-conservative state House?

“I think there are serious concerns about legalization and recreation use,” reported Au Belatti. “It is all not rainbows and hugs like some people would like to suggest.”

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.