Pubdate: Sun, 11 Jan 2015
Source: Garden Island (Lihue, HI)
Copyright: 2015 The Garden Island
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/Fyr3Cplk
Website: http://thegardenisland.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/964
Author: Darin Moriki

FOR SALE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

State Trying to Determine How to Provide Licensed Cannabis Patients 
With Their Medicine

Nearly 14 years after the use of medical marijuana was legalized in 
Hawaii, medical marijuana patients may have a legal way to purchase 
it, rather than just grow it themselves, within the next few years.

The 21-member group tasked with crafting guidelines for a 
state-monitored medical marijuana dispensary system is recommending 
that at least one dispensary be opened in four of the state's five 
counties by the start of 2017.

Members of the Hawaii Medical Marijuana Dispensary Task Force, which 
was created during the last legislative session and convened shortly 
afterward, also agreed that state Department of Health officials 
should offer at least 30 licenses for medical marijuana producers 
beginning on June 1, 2016.

"I think it's a very good start for guidelines for legislation, but 
the legislative process will lead to compromises and discussions," 
said Rep. Della Au Belatti, D, Makiki-Manoa, who sat on the task 
force and chairs the state House Health Committee.

Responses to the recommendations, however, are mixed among medical 
marijuana dispensary proponents and opponents throughout the state.

Dr. David Barton, who has operated his Hawaiian Pacific Pain and 
Palliative Care satellite clinic out of the Kauai Design Center in 
Kapaa for the past five or six years, said he is cautiously 
optimistic about what legislation may be developed from the 
recommendations but has noticed that attitudes toward medical 
marijuana are slowly changing for the better.

"We're pretty happy, actually," Barton said. "I think better days are 
ahead and good people are trying to do good things."

A medical marijuana patient on Kauai, who asked that her name be 
withheld, said she would like to see more details hammered out.

"I just quickly read through it, and it seems to be lacking some 
important information," she said. "It's definitely a good start. I 
would like to see criteria for dispensary owners."

Theresa Koki, coordinator at the County of Kauai's anti-drug program 
Life's Choices of Kauai, said state lawmakers and officials should 
"continue to pursue extensive research on marijuana and develop other 
methods and acceptable routes of administration."

'A serious challenge'

At the crux of the long-standing debate on medical marijuana is how 
to provide the nearly 13,000 qualified and licensed patients in 
Hawaii with the medicine they need.

State laws approved in 2000 allow for the possession, cultivation, 
use, distribution and transportation of marijuana for medical 
purposes, but doesn't allow for patients to obtain it unless they or 
their caregivers grow it themselves.

That task, however, is complicated, since the current medical 
marijuana program, which was transferred to the state Department of 
Health from the Department of Public Safety last month, neither 
supplies marijuana seeds or plants nor provides a source or means of 
obtaining them.

With no other means left to legally obtain the medical marijuana they 
need, Barton said about 80 percent of his patients purchase marijuana 
from someone they know. But the danger, he said, is that there is no 
way to determine the safety of marijuana purchased off the street.

"The department's concerns at this time are primarily for an 
accessible and well-managed system that will serve patients in a safe 
and efficient manner," State Department of Health spokeswoman Janice 
Okubo wrote in an email. "Such a system will require sufficient 
resources, expertise and time to develop and sustain."

'A good foundation'

Under recommendations outlined by the task force, state Department of 
Health officials should determine the number of dispensary licenses 
based on a guideline of one for every 500 patients, which would be 
adjusted annually.

These recommendations also allow medical marijuana sold at 
dispensaries to be subject to the state's 4 percent general excise 
tax, Au Belatti said.

"Hopefully, we will come out with a very good policy to make medical 
marijuana more accessible for patients," Rep. Daynette "Dee" 
Morikawa, D, Koloa-Niihau, wrote in an email. "I'm excited about the 
potential to be able to take out or separate the parts of the plant 
that will benefit patients without the other affects of marijuana. 
Other great benefits will be the controlled dosages and the revenue 
potential for the state."

Task force members also recommended that department officials create 
a license-issuing program for medical marijuana production centers, 
which would only be allowed to distribute medical marijuana to 
dispensaries or other production centers.

Rep. Derek Kawakami, D, Wailua-Hanalei, said he is pleased task force 
members "are offering a good foundation of what needs to be 
accomplished in regards to striking the right balance of compassion 
for those who are truly in need for this type of treatment and public safety."

He questions, however, how laws will ensure that employees of medical 
marijuana dispensaries, producers, and manufacturers are properly 
trained and retrained.

"I am also hesitant at first glance to give the Department of Health 
such broad sweeping powers of authority," Kawakami wrote in an email. 
"While I have full faith that the department will be diligent in 
ensuring that any such program will hold public safety paramount, I 
feel uneasy that should they see fit, they could raise renewal fees 
to a point that may make it financially impossible for patients to 
afford treatment."

Still, some say the current recommendations will serve as a guide 
that will help craft legislation.

The task force, Au Belatti said, struggled to address a number of 
specific issues, such as the sale of "edibles," or food items that 
contain marijuana, including cookies, brownies and candy. Many of 
these issues, she said, will most likely be addressed as dispensary 
bills moves through the state Legislature.

"I think clearly there are tensions about what that system should 
look like, but I think the challenge is that if you have too few 
dispensaries, you're going to have a monopoly on the growth," Au Belatti said.

Task force member Daniel Gluck, senior staff attorney for the 
American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii, said his organization 
"generally supports the recommendations."

"We are hopeful and optimistic that the Legislature will pass a 
dispensary bill this session, giving patients access to 
physician-recommended medicine without having to rely on the black 
market," Gluck wrote.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom