German Lopez, writing for Vox:
Hawaii on Tuesday decriminalized marijuana, making it the 26th state to decriminalize or legalize the drug.
The new law removes the possibility of jail time as a penalty for up to three grams of marijuana, but maintains a $130 fine. Hawaii’s Democrat-controlled legislature approved the bill and sent it to Democratic Gov. David Ige in May. Ige didn’t sign it, but he also didn’t veto it, effectively letting it become law on Tuesday. The new law will take effect on January 11, 2020.
This marks a significant turning point in the United States. Now more than half of the country’s states have officially legalized and/or decriminalized cannabis.