Pubdate: Sun, 14 Jun 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: Carl Bergquist
Note: Carl Bergquist is executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii.

CAREFUL CRITERIA WILL ENSURE SAFE ACCESS

With the passage of the medical marijuana dispensary bill House Bill 
321, Hawaii is returning to the compassionate spirit that prevailed 
when our Legislature was first in the country to legalize medical 
cannabis in 2000. Strong majorities in both chambers sent a carefully 
crafted piece of legislation to the desk of Gov. David Ige, where it 
awaits his signature.

If, as we hope and expect, he signs it into law, the long-suffering, 
seriously ill patients of Hawaii will soon be able to procure their 
essential medicine at a safe and legal retail location. KAT WADE / 
SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISE R This legal cannabis plant in Mililani 
was used to make a tincture to treat a girl for seizures. With the 
passage of legislation establishing marijuana dispensaries in Hawaii, 
the debate continues over how the facilities and their products 
should be regulated.

The bill awaits Gov. David Ige's signature, or veto.

Starting early next year, the Department of Health will have a 17-day 
open application period for up to three licensees in Honolulu County, 
two each in Hawaii and Maui counties, and one on Kauai. Each licensee 
will be able to own or operate up to two dispensaries and two 
production centers.

Strict criteria ensure that the applicants have bona fide ties to 
Hawaii and the granting of licenses will be entirely meritbased. The 
selected licensees will be announced by mid-April 2016 and, after the 
department gives its final approval, they may open their doors by 
July 15, 2016. From October 2017 on, additional licenses may be 
issued based on need.

The Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii will be active in the Department of 
Health's upcoming rulemaking process for the dispensary system, and 
we encourage the public to participate as well. HB 321 establishes 
the parameters for advertising and marketing, dispensary employee 
training and certification, product laboratory testing, health and 
sanitation standards, and more. A great deal of collaborative work 
has been done and we anticipate that this system will work well, both 
from the get-go and as it evolves.

The final version of the bill emphasizes common sense and targeted 
approaches to safety.

For example, it focuses on prohibiting specific, dangerous processes 
like butane extraction by patients or their caregivers, while 
allowing wider latitude to the licensees in their production. It 
protects our keiki by prescribing strict marketing rules and 
prohibiting direct sales of medical marijuana to them, while ensuring 
access for those minor patients who need relief from suffering.

A new computer system linking the Department of Health with the 
dispensaries will allow for regulation of sales, inventory and 
quality, as well as the disposal of production waste.

Finally, the security systems at dispensaries and production centers 
will use state-of-the-art alarms, video monitoring, fencing, etc.

To help our active-duty soldiers and veterans in Hawaii, the bill 
adds posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the conditions eligible 
for medical marijuana treatment.

This victory should be seen as part of a larger battle to eventually 
permit federal Veterans Administration doctors to recommend medical 
marijuana to patients.

In addition to all these upsides, there are economic benefits for 
Hawaii. In these lean times, the creation of new jobs and additional 
revenue to the state coffers are most welcome.

To that effect, the bill allows for subcontracting so that additional 
businesses can help the dispensaries and productions centers.

We are pleased that the final version omits excessive special taxes, 
and in 2018 a reciprocity system for out-of-state patients will kick 
in - important for a state with a major visitor industry.

While HB 321 is not a perfect bill, it got progressively better 
during the long legislative process.

It prevents monopolies, gradually phases out the growing role for 
caregivers - with crucial exceptions for patients on islands without 
dispensaries such as Lanai and Molokai. It still authorizes them to 
help their patients obtain and use their medicine.

Patients will still be permitted to grow their own plants and a wide 
range of lab-tested marijuana products from lozenges to ointments and 
oil extracts will be available to them at the dispensaries.

The dispensary program is still a work in progress.

It is good, common-sense public policy because it resolves the 
essential contradiction of our 15-year-old program: that there was no 
safe and legal access to medicine.

The medical cannabis patients of Hawaii are grateful to Rep. Della 
Belatti and Sen. Will Espero, primary chairs of the final conference 
committee, and to all of the legislators who worked on and supported 
the bill, for putting us so near the finish line. Now it is up to all 
of us to make this work.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom