Pubdate: Sun, 10 May 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

FUTURE OF POT IN HAWAII DESERVES FULL CONVERSATION

Very little about public policy happens in a vacuum, least of all 
Hawaii's belated move to fully implement its 15-year-old medical 
marijuana law, after letting things languish for so long.

When medical marijuana became legal, Hawaii was at the front of the 
pack among states liberalizing controls of the drug, moving first to 
allow its use for relief of pain and other physical symptoms. Now the 
long-awaited authorization of dispensaries for the delivery of 
marijuana to those holding a medical prescription has been overtaken 
by decisions in other states to legalize it entirely.

Judging by the outcome of this past legislative session - the passage 
of House Bill 321, an expansive effort to ramp up distribution fairly 
readily - it seems plain that the state is positioning itself for a 
full legalization debate when session reconvenes next year.

Assuming Gov. David Ige signs HB 321 into law, two things need to 
happen. One, lawmakers rejected the more prudently constrained 
startup dispensary network proposed by the Senate, so it falls to 
state health officials to design administrative rules that can impose 
sufficiently rigorous quality controls and oversight.

They have a year to accomplish that, before the dispensaries start 
opening July 1, 2016.

The other element is public participation in the process going 
forward. Public hearings on rulemaking will be part of that, but they 
should be focused on setting standards for medicinal dosage, which 
seem to be thinly defined. For manufactured products - primarily 
capsules, lozenges or pills containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 
the active ingredient - each dose is restricted to 10 milligrams of THC.

But where the plant product is concerned, there seem to be inadequate 
standards for an appropriate dose, beyond limits of 4 ounces allowed 
to a qualifying purchaser in 15 days, or 8 ounces in 30 days. This is 
a medication, and the aim of the rulemaking should include clarifying 
how much THC accomplishes its aim. Expert testimony should be sought 
throughout this process.

The bill does call on the state Department of Health to draw on a 
wide range of criteria guiding the creation of the dispensary system. 
Licensure standards must be spelled out clearly.

Eight dispensary licenses will be issued, each one able to establish 
two retail dispensary locations, for a total of 16 statewide. 
Requirements for background checks must be made watertight.

Beyond that more immediate mission, a separate public conversation 
needs to begin on the next steps that will confront the state, given 
that the distributive infrastructure is being set in place: Should 
Hawaii move on to legalize, or decriminalize, marijuana?

Elected officials in the islands will have the experiences of 
Colorado and Washington states as guidance, and already some common 
assumptions are being tested.

One is that legalization is an easy route to generating state funds. 
Given that the black market still exists to undercut the legitimate 
sale of the product, tax revenue does not always meet the rosy 
projections. Hawaii lawmakers have to evaluate that aspect of any 
proposal informed by this reality.

Second, the health effects of the drug, benign or otherwise, must be 
weighed objectively. Now that the state is poised to establish 21 as 
the legal smoking age, the effects on adolescents and young adults in 
particular become less of a concern in the legalization debate, but 
the larger discussion of the medical research will be essential.

The wrangling over the medical marijuana dispensaries plan became 
explosive, because there is such sharp division over the broad 
outlines of the system. This is one reason that the issue took so 
many years to come to resolution.

On the one side, there's Republican Rep. Bob McDermott, who said a 
smallerscale, "boutique-style solution" would have met the need.

Others were much more sympathetic to the relief that medical 
marijuana can provide, easing symptoms such as pain, nausea and convulsions.

Some, such as Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English, asserted that 
legalization of recreational marijuana use is the "next step for 
Hawaii." English said leadership would address it in the next session.

This isn't an issue to be left for January 2016, when lawmakers 
return to the Capitol. State Rep. Marcus Oshiro noted, correctly, 
that the state has "one shot at doing the right thing the right way."

Regardless of any limitations on revenue projections, this would be a 
new industry, one that could leave a deep imprint through many layers 
of island society.

It is gratifying at least to see the state take steps to fulfill the 
largely empty promise of its medical marijuana law, giving patients a 
practical way to access the drug.

That said, the work has only just begun, with a lot more questions to 
be asked and answered.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom