Pubdate: Thu, 05 Mar 2015
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2015 Star Advertiser
Contact: 
http://www.staradvertiser.com/info/Star-Advertiser_Letter_to_the_Editor.html
Website: http://www.staradvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5154
Author: Kevin Dayton

DISPENSARY BILL MOVES TO FULL HOUSE

The Measure Would Allow Patients to Legally Obtain Medical Marijuana

A bill to authorize the first legal medical marijuana dispensaries in 
Hawaii cleared a critical hurdle at the Legislature this week by 
winning approval from the House Finance Committee. That nod from the 
powerful committee that controls state funding means the bill is now 
positioned for a vote by the full state House of Representatives.

Nearly 15 years after state lawmakers approved the prescription and 
use of medical marijuana, patients still have no legal way of 
purchasing cannabis. They are in effect legally required to grow 
their own supply, and officials say many are apparently relying 
instead on the black market for marijuana to obtain medicinal pot.

House Bill 321 would authorize at least 26 dispensary licenses to set 
up shop to serve the state's 13,000 registered medical marijuana 
patients statewide, and mandates establishing at least one dispensary 
in each county. Dispensaries would be banned from all areas within 
750 feet of playgrounds, public housing projects and schools.

Dispensary licenses would be issued by the Health Department starting 
next year, and the first dispensaries could open as early as July 1, 
2017. A dispensary license would cost $20,000, and the department 
would also collect an annual $30,000 renewal fee to cover the cost of 
regulating the distribution operations.

The bill also allows the manufacture of capsules, lozenges, oils or 
pills using marijuana as an ingredient, and requires the state 
Department of Health to establish standards for advertising and 
packaging of cannabis.

Hawaii County and Honolulu police departments opposed the dispensary 
bill, with Honolulu police warning the bill could create new 
difficulties for police as they attempt to enforce controlled 
substance laws, "arguably inviting, significant increases in illicit 
distribution."

Hawaii County Police Chief Harry Kubojiri expressed concern that the 
bill would allow each user to obtain up to eight ounces of marijuana 
per month - or the equivalent of about 448 marijuana cigarettes - 
which could lead to "severe addiction."

"We are hard-pressed to imagine how someone using that much marijuana 
will be able to function in society except in extreme cases where 
they are homebound" and suffering from a terminal disease, Kubojiri 
said in written testimony. "Therefore, if indeed persons are to be 
allowed that amount of marijuana, we believe they will become highly 
dependent upon it, and will need treatment and other services."

Maui Police Chief Tivoli Faaumu said it would cost the Maui 
department an extra $222,000 per year to train field officers to 
detect motorists under the influence of marijuana, and an additional 
$494,000 to train specialists to pursue the cases that are identified 
by the field officers.

Faaumu also warned that Colorado has reported a growing influx of 
homeless people in the wake of marijuana legalization there.

The dispensary bill is supported by the Association of Hawaiian Civic 
Clubs, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, the Community 
Alliance on Prisons, the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii and other groups.

Andrea Tischler of the Hawaii island chapter of Americans for Safe 
Access said some patients who have prescriptions for medical 
marijuana are too sick to grow their own plants, or lack the skill to 
grow their own.

"Law-abiding patients and caregivers want to remain law abiding, but 
the way the current medical cannabis law is worded, patients and 
caregivers are forced to turn to the black market or other illegal 
avenues to obtain the medicine that they have the legal right to 
use," she said in written testimony.

The House Finance Committee approved the bill Tuesday in a 13-2 vote, 
with Reps. James Tokioka (D, Wailua-Hanamaulu-Lihue) and Gene Ward 
(R, Kalama Valley-Queen's Gate-Hawaii Kai) voting against the measure.

Gov. David Ige has expressed support for giving qualified users legal 
access to medical marijuana.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom