Opinion ID: 1195159
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Subsequent material revisions

Text: In 1981, the legislature determined that it would be desirable to remove the protection given to those less than three years older than the minor to whom they distribute dangerous, harmful, or detrimental drugs. Present law ... reflects prior legislative intent to protect a distributor of drugs in the same age group, albeit slightly older than the person to whom the drugs were distributed. ... [T]he existing protection given to persons less than three years older than the minor to whom the drug is distributed[] has resulted in wholesalers of drugs using young persons as pushers to distribute to minors, ... thereby avoiding [more severe] felony sanctions.... [T]his exemption should be removed[] in order to remove the incentive to recruit young persons as pushers. Sen. Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 403, in 1981 Senate Journal, at 1090; see also Hse. Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 944, in 1981 House Journal, at 1335-56. Accordingly, the legislature deleted the protection from HRS §§ 712-1241(1)(c), -1244(1)(e), and -1247(1)(g). See 1981 Haw. Sess. L. Act 31, §§ 1-3 at 51-52. Having done so, HRS § 712-1247(1) now provided in relevant part: (1) A person commits the offense of promoting a detrimental drug in the first degree if he knowingly: .... (g) Distributes any marijuana or any Schedule V substance in any amount to a minor. HRS § 712-1247 (Supp.1981). In 1986, the legislature enacted an omnibus bill, Act 314, by which [it] revisited the fundamental philosophy reflected in the [Hawai`i Penal Code] following a process of comprehensive review. Gaylord, 78 Hawai`i at 149, 890 P.2d at 1189; see 1986 Haw. Sess. L. Act 314 [hereinafter, Act 314], §§ 1-80 at 593-629. For present purposes, Act 314 is significant in two respects. First, because a subsection (the provisions of which are immaterial to this appeal) was added to section 1247(1) of the Hawai`i Penal Code, HRS § 712-1247(1)(g) was renumbered to its current designationHRS § 712-1247(1)(h). Act 314, § 75 at 628. Second, Act 314 added a new section to HRS ch. 712HRS § 712-1249.5 (Supp.1986), entitled Commercial promotion of marijuana. Id., § 76 at 628. HRS § 712-1249.5 would become relevant to the present analysis three years later. In 1989, the legislature undertook to stiffen the penalties for the promotion of marijuana and similar substances in furtherance of the war against drugs. Sen. Conf. Comm. Rep. No. 164, in 1989 Senate Journal, at 837; Hse. Conf. Comm. Rep. No. 146, in 1989 House Journal, at 829; Sen. Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 896, in 1989 Senate Journal, at 1145. As initially recommended by the Senate Judiciary Committee, S.B. No. 1154 established, inter alia, the offense of first degree promotion of marijuana[,] ... a class A felony, [9] which included the distribution of any marijuana or any Schedule V substance in any amount to a minor, formerly located in HRS § 712-1247(1)(h). See Sen. Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 896, in 1989 Senate Journal, at 1145; Hse. Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 1272, in 1989 House Journal, at 1312. Thus, by transporting distribution of marijuana or a Schedule V substance in any amount to a minor out of HRS § 712-1247(1)(h) and into a new section, the Hawai`i Penal Code's statutory scheme governing the promotion of detrimental drugs no longer expressly addressed the issue. The bill also amended HRS § 712-1248(1)(d) to provide that distribution, in any of its forms, see HRS § 712-1240, supra note 1, rather than mere sale, see id., of marijuana in any amount would constitute second degree promotion of a detrimental drug. Sen. Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 896, in 1989 Senate Journal, at 1145. When S.B. No. 1154 crossed over to the House of Representatives, the House Judiciary Committee, inter alia, amended [the] measure by deleting from Section 1 of the bill, which created the class A marijuana felony, see supra note 9the subsection pertaining to the distribution of drugs to minors, Hse. Stand. Comm. Rep. No. 1272, in 1989 House Journal, at 1313, and transferred the provision to the amended version of HRS § 712-1249.5, see supra note 9. [10] Because the Senate and House drafts of S.B. No. 1154 now differed, the measure was sent to a joint conference committee for final resolution. With the sole explanation that it had done so in an attempt to balance the efforts of law enforcement in fighting the drug problem against the need to provide fair and equitable punishment, the conference committee reported in relevant part that [y]our Committee has made the following amendments to the bill: To specify that promoting a detrimental drug in the first degree is committed when one sells or barters any marijuana or any Schedule V substance; .... To define the offense of promoting a detrimental drug in the second degree as the distribution of any marijuana or any Schedule v. substance in any amount; and To specify that commercial promotion of marijuana in the second degree is committed [, inter alia, ] when[] one ... sells or barters any marijuana or any Schedule v. substances in any amount to a minor. Sen. Conf. Comm. Rep. No. 164, in 1989 Senate Journal, at 837 (emphases added); Hse. Conf. Comm. Rep. No. 146, in 1989 House Journal, at 829 (emphases added). S.B. No. 1154 was enacted into law as Act 384 and was approved by the governor on June 27, 1989, effective immediately. Pursuant to the act, HRS § 712-1247 now provided in relevant part: Promoting a detrimental drug in the first degree. (1) A person commits the offense of promoting a detrimental drug in the first degree if [he] the person knowingly: .... (f) Distributes one or more preparations, compounds, mixtures, or substances of an aggregate weight of [two ounces] one ounce or more, containing any marijuana; or .... (h) [Distributes] Sells or barters any marijuana or any Schedule V substance in any amount. [to a minor.] (2) Promoting a detrimental drug in the first degree is a class C felony. 1989 Haw. Sess. L. Act 384, § 2 at 1100 (repealed material in brackets and new statutory material underscored). HRS § 712-1248, in turn, now provided in relevant part: Promoting a detrimental drug in the second degree. (1) A person commits the offense of promoting a detrimental drug in the second degree if [he] the person knowingly: .... (d) [Sells] Distributes any marijuana or [distributes] any Schedule V substance in any amount. (2) Promoting a detrimental drug in the second degree is a misdemeanor. 1989 Haw. Sess. L. Act 384, § 3 at 1100 (repealed material in brackets and new statutory material underscored). Finally, a mongrelized version of the former HRS §§ 712-1247(1)(h) and -1248(1)(d) was transported out of the statutes governing the promotion of detrimental drugs and engrafted onto HRS § 712-1249.5, in relevant part, as follows: Commercial promotion of marijuana[.] in the second degree. (1) A person commits the offense of commercial promotion of marijuana in the second degree if the person knowingly: .... (e) [Uses, or causes to be used, any firearm or other weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, whether animate or inanimate, which in the manner used is capable of causing death or serious bodily injury, substantial bodily injury, or other bodily injury as defined in chapter 707 in order to prevent the theft, removal, search and seizure, or destruction of marijuana.] Sells or barters any marijuana or any Schedule V substance in any amount to a minor. (2) Commercial promotion of marijuana in the second degree is a class B felony. 1989 Haw. Sess. L. Act 384, § 4 at 1101 (repealed material in brackets and new statutory material underscored). Thus it was, by virtue of seventeen years of legislative amendment, that HRS §§ 712-1247(1)(h) and -1248(1)(d) (Supp.1989) had been fundamentally transformedboth substantively and schematicallyfrom their 1972 origins.