As Hawaii gets close to opening its first medical marijuana dispensaries - some 16 years after medical cannabis was legalized - one might expect that the major issues have been worked out.

Not so. Even as the state Department of Health labors under a fast-approaching April 15 deadline to approve eight applications for dispensary permits, the Legislature is busy, too - trying to change the rules under which the Health Department is working.

It's the legislative equivalent of trying to change the tires on a car while it's speeding down the freeway - in other words, a bad idea.

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Police Question Outdoor Growing, Reduced Penalties

Several bills being considered by the state Legislature aim to make things easier for people in the state's medical marijuana program, but Big Island police have a few concerns.

Senate Bill 2523, introduced by Puna Democrat Sen. Russell Ruderman, as originally written would allow open-air growing operations, greenhouses and shade houses to serve as medical marijuana production centers - so long as operations aren't visible to the outside.

The idea, Ruderman said, is for plants to grow under natural sunlight "as they've evolved to do," rather than indoors under artificial lamps. The bill was amended Thursday to nix openair growing, and would now take effect starting in 2017, rather than this year.

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Several bills now moving through the Legislature seek to amend the medical marijuana law and the Department of Health's (DOH) interim administrative rules: House Bill 2707, an omnibus bill; HB 1808 on greenhouses; HB 2708 on background checks; Senate Bill 2176 on oversight committees; SB 2581, another omnibus bill; SB 2175 to add one license and regarding felonies; and SB 2581 on growing opportunities.

Some provisions would laudably remove restrictions on the use of greenhouses, shade houses or field growing - as long as they are enclosed by fencing, blocked from public view and have adequate security measures. Others would wisely modify criminal background checks for patients and caregivers and decriminalize marijuana from Felony B and C categories.

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It will be highly lucrative for those groups awarded the medical marijuana dispensary licenses. Unfortunately, applicants who get chosen will be accused of undue influence and conflicts of interest. Those who don't will likely file lawsuits. What to do? I suggest we discard the panel to select the groups. Instead, have the state Department of Health choose the approved applicants in a fair way with an equal playing field.

Put the names of the approved applicants on ping-pong balls, put the balls in a bingo cage, turn the cage and have the governor pull out eight balls to determine the groups awarded the licenses.

It would be transparent and fair, and avoid conflicts of interest as well as lawsuits.

Libby Tomar

Kailua

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Lawmakers Are Considering Loosening Dispensary Rules and Allowing Greenhouses

Advanced practice registered nurses, who already prescribe prescription drugs, could start certifying patients for medical marijuana under a bill passed out of committee Wednesday.

House Bill 2707, one of roughly 60 bills related to medical marijuana, also permits pot samples to be transported interisland for testing and eliminates penalties for patients who use paraphernalia, such as pipes and vape pens, to take their medicine. Friday is an internal deadline to move bills to the next committee to keep them alive.

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Remember "government of the people, by the people and for the people"?

The state Department of Health has the fate of thousands of medical marijuana patients in its hands.

Who decided that nobody is supposed to know who is on the dispensary application approval team, or who picked them ("Panel, process for pot licenses to remain secret," Star-Advertiser, Feb. 10)?

Sounds like Big Brother knows what is best for everyone.

And for that matter, why not just have free enterprise? The number of pharmacies per county should not be limited by the state.

Sandra Conrad

Ala Moana

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But Whether the Health Department Has Finalized the Committee Is Unclear

The state Health Department reversed course Friday, saying it will release the names of medical marijuana dispensary committee members before the panel grants Hawaii's first licenses for legal pot sales. On Tuesday the agency said it would keep secret the names of the panelists who are to select eight winning applications from the 66 that were submitted last month. The decision to keep the selection process secret drew a sharp rebuke from lawmakers. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser also threatened to sue the state if the names were not released.

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Oahu Publications Says It Is Prepared to Sue If the Heath Department Refuses

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser told the state Health Department on Thursday it will file a lawsuit if the agency does not release by the close of business today the names of committee members who will award Hawaii's first medical marijuana dispensary licenses.

Jeff Portnoy, attorney for the Star-Advertiser's parent company, Oahu Publications Inc., delivered the notice to the Department of Health demanding it disclose the names.

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The people in the know clearly know the crucial fact about the new medical marijuana dispensary enterprise: It's going to be big business - very big.

That, as well as the fact that only eight licenses will be awarded, has turned those permits into valuable commodities.

And it's turned the process of selecting the licensees into a matter of public interest - one that should be done with as much transparency as possible.

Unfortunately, the state Department of Health, which is administering the fledgling program, has decided that the best course to fairness is to sequester the people making the decision: its review panel. In this way, DOH officials have said, the panelists would not be open to influence.

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The state Health Department said Tuesday it will neither release the names of committee members who will select the winners of Hawaii's eight medical marijuana dispensary licenses nor disclose any information about the selection process.

The department received 66 applications for the dispensary licenses and will determine by April 15 who is granted the right to open the first legal marijuana shops in Hawaii later this year.

"It is critical that the selection process be conducted without external influence and disruption, so that applicants are scored solely on their application and the merit criteria," said Janice Okubo, spokeswoman for the Department of Health. "To ensure the integrity of the selection process, DOH will not be releasing any additional information about applicants, the application process or evaluation panel at this time."

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Hawaii residents say legalizing industrial hemp could spur business ventures ranging from home construction to selling hemp seed candy bars at Hawaii airports.

Lawmakers considered a bill Friday that would legalize and set rules for growing industrial hemp. The bill would require growers to register with the state and would clarify the difference between hemp and marijuana.

The bill would also require the Hawaii Department of Agriculture to research development of products, such as clothing, oils and seed. Supporters say industrial hemp production could boost the agriculture sector and help rural economies.

Nationwide at least 27 states have laws in place related to industrial hemp. In 2014 President Barack Obama signed the 2014 Farm Bill, which allowed universities and state departments to grow industrial hemp for limited uses.

- -Staff and Associated Press

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Celebrities, politicians and attorneys vie to get in on the ground floor of an industry forecast to be worth millions

Actor Woody Harrelson, Hollywood producer Shep Gordon and dozens of high-profile attorneys, entrepreneurs and politicians are jumping on the opportunity to sell pot in Hawaii. The state Health Department released Friday a list of 66 applicants for eight dispensary licenses that will allow for the opening of Hawaii's first medical marijuana retail centers as early as July 15.

The list includes local doctors; video game entrepreneur Henk Rogers; Hawaii island farmer Richard Ha; "Hawaii Stars" television producer Dirk Fukushima; Michael Irish, owner of kim chee maker Halm's Enterprises and Keoki's Lau Lau; former St. Francis Healthcare Systems executive Eugene Tiwanak; former city Budget Director and Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit Chairman Ivan Lui-Kwan; Kimberly Dey, CEO of production companies Liquid Planet Studios and Number-Eight; and Charles Kawakami, former president of Big Save supermarkets on Kauai.

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State Rep. Cynthia Thielen has been a champion for cannabis, though not the kind that gets you high.

Industrial hemp, Thielen said, yields thousands of uses and products, so it frustrates her to see them laughed off by those who confuse this varietal of the cannabis plant with what's known as marijuana.

"Its uses range from termite proof and fire retardant hempcrete for building, nutritional hempseed products, animal feed, rope, paper, cloth," she said in an email response to a Star-Advertiser inquiry.

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A bill that would ban homegrown marijuana in Hawaii is riling pot advocates as the state prepares for the opening of medical cannabis dispensaries this year.

House Bill 1680, proposed by Rep. Marcus Oshiro (D-Wahiawa, Whitmore Village), would prohibit patients from growing their own pot in 2017, essentially forcing them to buy their marijuana from state-licensed dispensaries.

"The discussion always has been to find a reliable, safe source of medical marijuana for Hawaii's patients," Oshiro said. "Those means would be through a well-regulated seed-to-sale tracking system to ensure that only the bona fide patients under doctors' care and with a valid certificate are able to obtain medical marijuana at the retail dispensaries.

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Hemp production could save agriculture in Hawaii. The recent reporting on the University of Hawaii's study about growing hemp here is extremely hopeful. The preliminary results of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resource's experimental study on its farmland in Waimanalo point toward excellent possibilities.

The timing of agricultural land becoming available on Maui and the announcement that Alexander & Baldwin (A&B), through its agricultural subsidiary Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. (HC&S), is considering hemp as a viable crop indicates how views have changed since industrial hemp was erroneously classified as a drug over 50 years ago.

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As a Colorado citizen who helped re-legalize cannabis, Jeffrey K. Coakley's misinformed letter (Real motivation for marijuana isn't medicine, Jan. 14,), demands much correction.

Ohio "voted no" regarding cannabis (marijuana) because their specific initiative was flawed and even cannabis activist opposed it and will likely pass it next time. When cannabis is re-legalized, there is not an increase in social services but rather a reduction; it's one reason law enforcement agencies and their unions consistently oppose ending cannabis prohibition and it's one of the reasons voters want to end cannabis prohibition.

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Oh, how to respond to Mr. Coakley and his North Hawaii Community Associations letter to the editor on Jan. 13?

More 1950s reefer madness propaganda with unnamed certified studies and doom predictions if sick patients no longer have to grow their own pot and can purchase their legal medicine in a safe and secure location. Mainland pot interests intent on subverting our youth by subsidizing the dispensaries even though the DOH has not even selected who they will be.

Hide the women and children "they" are coming for them! All this baloney despite recent Pew studies that show 65 percent support for legalization among millennials. Just who is out of touch, me, or Mr. Coakley? Representatives of the people passed this dispensary law. Is Mr. Coakley a supporter of law, or only the laws he likes? I have no doubt that in the future marijuana will be legal everywhere. Women's rights, same-sex marriage, transgender rights, gays in the military, society changes and moves forward. Thank God!

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J. Appleton's attempt to discredit me and North Kohala Community Association is based on his lack of knowledge on the marijuana issue and his ignorance on the pulse of our community.

We are asking why the two dispensary licenses for this island and eight throughout the state?

We have less than 14,000 medical marijuana cardholders in Hawaii, 5,550 on the Big Isle. Each patient can have seven plants. If they can't grow their own, others can grow the plants for them. Of the 5,500, only 12 Big Isle patients cannot grow their own. So to "assist" these 12 people, four Big Isle reps helped introduce the bill: Cindy Evans, Mark Nakashima, Richard Creagan and Joy San Buenaventura.

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Legalizing marijuana for agriculture is a pipe dream ("Like it or not, legalizing pot could be boon for local ag," Star-Advertiser, David Shapiro, Jan. 10).

Alcohol and tobacco are not profitable in Hawaii because of the out-of-state competition, egregious state regulations, taxes, land, labor, production and transportation costs.

Marketing labels like Puna Butter, Kona Gold or Maui Wowie would not create cannabis agriculture. Just like Hawaiian sweet bread, marijuana would not be exported; it would be produced outside of Hawaii.

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Commercial cannabis (marijuana) in Colorado currently is grown indoors ("Like it or not, legalizing pot could be boon for local ag," Star-Advertiser, David Shapiro, Jan. 10).

However, it's reasonable to expect federal laws prohibiting cannabis to collapse in the future, and that will give Hawaii an advantage with its ideal climate.

Another thing that doesn't get mentioned is tourism. Millions of citizens across America are sick and tired of being persecuted, discriminated against and caged for using the relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant.

Colorado has seen tourism increase substantially since ending cannabis prohibition. The sooner Hawaii re-legalizes the plant, the sooner its tourism likely will increase also.

Further, millions of citizens remember "Maui Wowie" and can hardly wait to smoke it legally.

Stan White Dillon, Colo.

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