Pubdate: Sat, 03 Jan 2015
Source: Garden Island (Lihue, HI)
Copyright: 2015 Associated Press
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/Fyr3Cplk
Website: http://thegardenisland.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/964

MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROUP OFFERS RECOMMENDATIONS

KAILUA-KONA (AP) - Hawaii's Medical Marijuana Dispensary Task Force 
will recommend that licenses for marijuana production centers and 
dispensaries be offered in 2017, according to the state 
representative overseeing the group.

Rep. Della Au Belatti said the task force finished its work this 
week. She is working on a bill for the House to consider when the 
Legislature convenes Jan. 21, West Hawaii Today reported.

"The recommendations are really just a starting point," she said. 
"Some of the recommendations will be taken up, and some of them won't."

The group recommended that the Department of Health determine the 
number of dispensary licenses based on a guideline ratio of 1 for 
every 500 patients, with at least one dispensary in each county. It 
recommended that an application for a dispensary license cost 
$20,000, with $18,000 refunded if the application is unsuccessful. 
Annual license renewal would cost $30,000, the task force recommended.

The group recommended the Department of Health begin offering 
dispensary and producers licenses on Jan. 1, 2017. Dispensaries could 
begin operations July 1, 2017.

The task force recommended that medical marijuana production center 
licenses be issued based on a ratio that allows up to 1,000 plants at 
any one time, and that at least 30 producer licenses be offered on 
Jan 1, 2017. The group recommended that producers and dispensaries be 
permitted to transport medical marijuana within Hawaii in accordance 
with Health Department security requirements.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano signed Hawaii's medical marijuana law in 
2000. Marijuana can be prescribed for cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, 
cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, 
persistent muscle spasms, and other medical conditions approved by 
the state Department of Health.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom