Pubdate: Mon, 04 Jan 2016
Source: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2016 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

DO IT RIGHT WITH MEDICAL POT RULES

In the "hurry up and wait" mode that defines Hawaii's lawmaking 
process, new rules launching the state's medical marijuana industry 
have been rushed, less than a year after a law finally sanctioned 
dispensaries, and 15 years after Hawaii approved medical marijuana 
use but without legal means of buying the drug.

The harried nature of the rulemaking, coupled with lawmakers' 
criticisms of the crucial ground rules, are unsettling - so much so 
that it behooves officials to pause the timetable to do this properly.

After years under the state Department of Public Safety, the medical 
marijuana program is now with the state Department of Health. Pressed 
by a tight schedule set by the last Legislature, the DOH's care in 
crafting dispensary rules that strive to be responsible to the health 
and welfare of the general public - and particularly to minors - is 
to be commended.

Complicating matters is federal law, which classifies marijuana as a 
Schedule 1 drug having no currently accepted medical use. Health 
officials did not deserve the overbearing scolding they got from some 
legislators in a rules briefing Monday.

The DOH underscores three major public-policy concerns: patient 
safety, product safety and public safety. But some of the rules drew 
complaints about overstepping legislative intent, including:

)) Prohibiting greenhouses in the growing of medical marijuana.

While the law says that marijuana production must occur in "enclosed, 
indoor facilities," the greenhouse ban is dubious, considering 
Hawaii's solar climate. In states such as Colorado and Washington, 
where both medicinal and recreational pot are legal, high energy use 
is a costly concern for growers. Precluding the greenhouse option in 
Hawaii should be dropped, provided that security issues are addressed.

)) Disallowing marijuana cigarettes.

While silent on "joints," the law specifies that medical marijuana 
dispensaries can sell capsules, lozenges, pills, oil and oil 
extracts, tinctures, ointments and skin lotions. In defending the 
anti-joint rule, DOH Director Dr. Virginia Pressler made a solid 
point that her agency has aggressively advocated against inhaling 
smoke from tobacco and other products due to health risks.

Lawmakers also took issue with the DOH dispensary bans on 
pot-ingesting paraphernalia and on marijuana-infused foods, such as 
baked goods and candies.

At this early stage, the Health Department is right to err on the 
side of caution against drugs tucked in common-looking foods. The 
salient point remains that registered patients will still have access 
to the medicine they need without these products.

Hawaii's new law allows for 16 medical marijuana dispensaries - eight 
licenses for two retail dispensaries - to open on July 15. The 
application period for the licenses is Jan. 12-29, with each 
nonrefundable $5,000 application needing to show at least $1 million 
in financial resources, plus $100,000-plus per dispensary site.

Clearly, it will take money to make money. Already, savvy investors 
and prominent names are positioning to get in on a potential boom 
industry. Dispensaries here, some predict, could create a lucrative 
new market of $65 million a year in sales and up to 800 jobs.

Still, the law's intent is supposed to be the promotion of health, 
not commercial ventures. Medical dispensaries should not be a flimsy 
gateway to easy marijuana purchase - or to the legalization of 
recreational marijuana, which is a separate, divisive issue for 
future public debates.

Legitimate medical marijuana users have waited too long for legal 
means to obtain their medicine. The DOH is closing in on a dispensary 
system, and it has the right instincts to keep the ground rules 
rigid. A few adjustments can be made, however - such as dropping the 
greenhouse ban - to keep displeased legislators from overworking the 
law in the upcoming session.

Health officials should be allowed another month or two to refine 
dispensary rules that, on the whole, serve and protect the public's health.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom