Less than 48 hours after lawmakers approved a bill to make marijuana use legal for Hawaiʻi residents aged 21 and older, the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives on Thursday punted the measure until next year.

The reason given by lawmakers: It needs more work, even though the issue has been debated for more than a half-century in Hawaiʻi.

“We try our best to keep a pulse on key issues moving through the session so we can get feedback from members,” Rep. Chris Todd told Civil Beat after the vote. “On this particular bill, it became clear that we did not have enough support to pass the measure in this session.”

Todd, a Big Island representative who voted for the measure Tuesday but introduced the motion to shelve it Thursday, added, “The plan going forward would be to continue to work on the issues at hand and see if we can find more common ground in the future.”

House Bill 1246 calls for establishing a new state agency within the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to regulate adult use of recreational and medical marijuana as well as hemp, which contains low levels of THC. That regulation would include taxing retail sales.

At a hearing Tuesday, the House Agriculture and Food Systems Committee voted 5-0 to approve the bill while the House Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee voted 6-4 in favor.

During the House floor session Thursday, however, Todd asked that HB 1246 be recommitted to the two committees, effectively tabling it for the year.

No reason was given for the procedural move during floor discussion, and several representatives objected to Todd’s action.

Rep. Della Au Belatti said it was rare to recommit a bill so early in the session. Rep. Amy Perruso, who voted yes with reservations in both of the committee votes, said it was “disheartening” to see the discussion of the bill cut short. And Reps. Kim Coco Iwamoto and Kanani Souza wanted an explanation for the action.

But Rep. Sean Quinlan, who also voted for HB 1246 on Tuesday, told his colleagues that there was no consensus on the measure, which is what killed a similar bill last year. Both bills are vigorously opposed by local law enforcement.

Quinlan said the House should focus instead on the bills where there is broad agreement.

The floor discussion was interrupted several times for quick recesses, meaning the cameras were turned off so representatives could work things out without the public listening in.

Rep. David Tarnas, the Big Island lawmaker who authored HB 1246, was not available for comment Thursday afternoon. In a statement Friday, he said he was disappointed there were not enough votes to advance the measure but that he would continue to work with committee chairs to craft language in a bill to reform cannabis policy in Hawaii “that will protect public health and public safety.”

“It is time we have a comprehensive policy to regulate all aspects of the cannabis industry in Hawaii, including a more effective regulatory framework for hemp and medical cannabis, which are already legal, as well as a system to legalize adult use of cannabis. In my opinion, this is an important issue that must be addressed in Hawaii,” he said. “The status quo is not acceptable.”

Under current state law, possession of up to three grams of marijuana for adults comes with a rarely enforced $130 civil fine with no jail time. People with medical marijuana authorization can have up to four ounces.