A group composed of Hawaii farmers, a naturopath and a University of Hawaii bioengineering researcher is preparing to apply for a medical marijuana dispensary license in January.

The group, led by Dr. Ryan Ferchoff, founder of Medical Medicinals LLC, and Maui business consultant Steven Bronstein, issued a news release Tuesday announcing its intentions to vie for one of eight dispensary licenses next year.

Bronstein has represented some of Hawaii's largest medical groups, educators and local businesses for more than 15 years, and was the founder of Cushman & Wakefield's retail division, previously owned by the Rockefellers.

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During a talk radio debate last week, Tulsa's district attorney, Steve Kunzweiler, warned that civil forfeiture reform would invite "some of the most violent people in the history of this planet" to set up shop in Oklahoma, making decapitated bodies "hung from bridges" a familiar sight in the Sooner State.

Last month, Steve Jones, an assistant district attorney, told Tennessee legislators "criminals will thank you" for making it harder to confiscate people's property.

These are the noises that cops and prosecutors make when people talk about restricting their license to steal. A new report from the Institute for Justice, which gives the forfeiture laws of both Oklahoma and Tennessee a "D-", explains why legislators should ignore such self-interested fear mongering.

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Hawaii's Health Department is looking for a company to build an online system to track medical marijuana inventory and sales at dispensaries statewide in 2016.

The department's Office of Health Care Assurance, which regulates and licenses health care facilities, has issued a request for proposals for a computer software tracking system that will run 24 hours a day, according to Keith Ridley, who heads the office.

"This is another major step forward to implement the medical marijuana program to ensure access for Hawaii patients and caregivers," Ridley said in a news release.

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FBI Director James Comey says cops are reluctant to do their jobs because they worry that their actions will be captured on camera. Judging from the official response to the shooting of Zachary Hammond, they have little to fear.

Speaking at the University of Chicago Law School last month, Comey said police officers "in today's YouTube world" are afraid to get out of their cars, lest they face camera-wielding bystanders intent on recording them. He warned that good policing could "drift away from us in the age of viral videos" as cops refrain from confronting suspicious characters.

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Parents, if you haven't already done so, be sure to cull through the kids' Halloween bounty to check that all goodies are safe to eat.

That should be a routine every year - but this September, there have been reports here of high school students being sickened by candy containing THC, the active ingredient and toxicant in marijuana. The packaging was innocent-looking enough, with one "100% vegan and organic" fruit roll-up product bearing the label Shaka Organics Hawaii. Be warned that cannabis candies are being sold in the several states that have legalized recreational pot, and, of course, all over the Internet.

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Tainted Treats Send Several High-Schoolers to the Emergency Room

Manufactured cannabis-laced fruit candy that has sickened Oahu teens in recent weeks may be touching off anxiety among parents of trick-or-treaters this Halloween.

Several high school students wound up in Oahu hospital emergency rooms after ingesting candy with THC, the active ingredient and chief intoxicant in marijuana. The source was traced to packaged rolled-fruit candy, said Keith Kamita, state Narcotics Enforcement Division chief.

As part of Halloween-safety awareness, "we are educating the public there are candies and fruit roll-ups that they should be aware of," Kamita said. Candies containing THC - whether in chocolates and brownies or fruit roll-ups and hard candies - are illegal to distribute in Hawaii, he said.

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State police confiscated more than 6,700 marijuana plants on the Big Island during two recent eradication missions.

The Department of Public Safety Narcotics Enforcement Division had a mission Sept. 18-19 in East Hawaii, said Toni Schwartz, public information officer for the department. They found 6,000 plants, 90 percent of which were in one open-forest grow situation.

On Monday and Tuesday, the officers performed a similar mission on the west side of the Big Island. There, NED officers confiscated more than 700 plants, she said. Most were growing in residential areas.

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The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is reassuring banks and other financial institutions that they may open accounts for medical marijuana businesses in Hawaii when dispensaries start operations next year.

Iris Ikeda, DCCA's commissioner of financial institutions, issued a news release Monday after conducting a series of presentations for the heads of local banks, compliance officers and their attorneys to "address some of their concerns" if they are considering opening these high-risk accounts.

"The question has always been around whether or not banks can open marijuana-related accounts," she said. "(Federal regulators) want to make it clear that even though marijuana is still a Schedule 1 drug, if they take a risk-based approach, they can open an account. Currently banks are not willing to open the accounts."

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The state Department of Health is under heavy pressure to speed up the process that would allow medical marijuana patients to receive cannabis. The department has been criticized for its reluctance to issue temporary cards; DOH expressed worry that temporary cards could easily be forged.

The worry is understandable, given that marijuana is a hugely popular recreational drug, and is expected to become widely available through dispensaries beginning July 15. And DOH must fulfill its duty to ensure, as best it can, that the drug is dispensed properly.

Meanwhile, under revised rules of professional conduct, Hawaii lawyers will be permitted to counsel applicants seeking to open dispensaries, which is a welcome switch from the previous situation.

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The Hawaii Supreme Court reversed Tuesday a ruling that barred lawyers from helping to establish medical marijuana dispensaries.

A formal opinion issued last month by the Disciplinary Board of the Hawaii Supreme Court concluded that Hawaii lawyers could not "provide legal services to facilitate the establishment and operation of a medical marijuana business," because selling pot is still considered a federal crime.

After an expedited public comment period to amend the rules following outcry from about two dozen local attorneys, including former Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle and former state Attorney General David Louie, the court changed the rules to say lawyers "may counsel or assist a client regarding conduct expressly permitted by Hawaii law, provided that the lawyer counsels the client about the legal consequences."

The Legislature passed a bill this year that allows for 16 medical marijuana dispensaries to open in Hawaii on July 15.

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Medical Marijuana Patients Need State Cards to Possess Pakalolo, the Health Department Says

State officials are warning Hawaii's medical marijuana patients and caregivers to tag their plants and carry their registration cards to avoid getting in trouble with the law.

The requirements are part of an amended set of rules proposed by the state Department of Health and approved by Gov. David Ige in July.

According to the updated rules, anyone registered to grow marijuana plants must have a legible identification tag on each marijuana plant, up to the allowable limit of seven plants. The tags must show the patient's registration number and expiration date of the card.

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Hawaii workers testing positive for crystal meth and marijuana decreased in the third quarter, though more people tried to use synthetic urine to mask drug use in the workplace.

Diagnostic Laboratory Services Inc., which conducts drug tests for between 7,000 and 10,000 workers, said meth, or "ice," use was down to 0.7 percent in the quarter from 0.9 percent in year-earlier period, according to a quarterly report released Tuesday. Marijuana use also dropped to 2.2 percent from 2.8 percent. Cocaine use remained flat at 0.3 percent, while positive opiate results fell slightly to 0.2 percent from 0.3 percent.

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Big-name entrepreneurs, high-profile attorneys and former politicians are positioning themselves to compete for one of the eight licenses the state will issue next year to begin selling medical marijuana legally in Hawaii for the first time.

Nearly 30 new business registrations include "marijuana," "cannabis," "pakalolo" and "weed" in their names, many of them filed with the state since the enactment of the law authorizing the establishment of pot dispensaries. Many are associated with well known business personalities.

The daughter of Henk Rogers, owner of the Tetris video game brand, is among those planning to apply, as is Bill Jarvis, CEO of Mobi PCS, and Michael Irish, CEO of kimchee manufacturer Halm's Enterprises Inc. and Keoki's Lau Lau. Anthony Takitani, a Maui attorney and former state legislator, registered Maui Medical Marijuana Dispensary LLC with Hollywood film agent and producer Shep Gordon. Former Honolulu Mayor and longtime city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle is representing a group of critical-care doctors vying for a license, and David Louie, previously state attorney general, is also representing a potential licensee.

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Small amounts of marijuana are not a big deal to the federal government.

FBI teams will not be rappelling onto your roof because you are holding a joint.

But holding that joint is still against federal law and that is creating new problems for Hawaii's embryonic medical marijuana business.

Lawyers' rules of ethics and professional conduct don't allow lawyers to advise clients to engage in conduct that is illegal.

A month ago the Disciplinary Board of the Hawaii Supreme Court came out with Formal Opinion 49, saying Hawaii attorneys "may not provide legal services to facilitate the establishment and operation of a medical marijuana business."

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Steve was guest-hosting "The Diane Rehm Show" on NPR recently, and the topic was the nationwide upsurge in heroin addiction. The first caller was Stacy from New Albany, Indiana.

"It's funny," she said. "I'm listening to this show and I have a syringe of heroin in my hand."

She had gotten hurt in the military, explained Stacy, and the painkillers prescribed by her doctors led to her addiction. She uses heroin now because it is far cheaper than the legal drugs that caused her dependency.

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A group on Kauai plans to apply for a permit for a medical marijuana dispensary, which they hope will be entirely locally funded and operated.

The Garden Island reported Monday that since Gov. David Ige approved House Bill 321, which sets up a system of medical marijuana dispensaries, the Kauai Dispensary Project has been approached by three investors and has an advisory board of five members.

Dispensary Project lead director Judiah McRoberts says a dispensary on the island would create easier access for more than 1,800 medical marijuana patients on the island.

Star-Advertiser staff and Associated Press

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To the editor:

Thank you, TGI, for bringing the discussion about the new dispensary law front and forward.

I truly believe that opening up dialogue between all stakeholders and the Kauai community will be a key aspect to make sure the new program is safe and successful. As a registered nurse I have seen the medical benefits of cannabis and I realize the new law will help a large portion of individuals who have little to no reliable access to medicine. I grew up on Kauai. I have a 7-year-old daughter and another child on the way. The last thing I want to see is cannabis ending up in the wrong hands.

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Kauai Stakeholders Want Locally Owned, Operated Medical Marijuana Dispensary

LIHUE - A group of Kauai stakeholders plans to apply for a medical marijuana dispensary on the island, and hopes to make it 100 percent locally funded and operated.

Judiah McRoberts, Kauai Dispensary Project lead director, said Gov. David Ige's approval of House Bill 321 - which establishes a licensing system for medical marijuana dispensaries in the state - will create easier access for more than 1,800 registered medical marijuana patients on Kauai.

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The promotion of industrial hemp as a silver bullet to protect agricultural lands from development is a case of misplaced enthusiasm.

Sugar and pineapple have experienced greatly reduced plantings due to cheaper production elsewhere. The 10-year legislative promotion of ethanol in fuel could not induce a single investor to build a plant to produce it. The ship has sailed on industrial crop production in Hawaii due to high costs of land, water and labor.

Legislative enthusiasm to support Hawaiian agriculture would be better focused on improving the water supply to agriculturally important lands, enhanced grower access to local markets via an open statewide auction house and enhanced interisland transportation, such as the Superferry.

Let's not waste valuable tax dollars on developing a crop like industrial hemp that can and will be more cost effectively produced in other mainland states, if and when it becomes legal to do so.

Joe DeFrank

Mililani

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The best way to protect agricultural land from future development is to cultivate needed crops on the acreage.

So we sure hope that state Rep. Cynthia Thielen is right about hemp.

The Windward Oahu Republican has been promoting industrial hemp for years, helping overcome numerous hurdles to farming it, hurdles related to its controversial cousin, marijuana.

Now that University of Hawaii researchers are harvesting their first industrial hemp crop in Waimanalo, the potential of the versatile, fast-growing plant as an agricultural mainstay seems wide open.

The plant has thousands of uses, including in health products, as a fuel source and in the building material "hempcrete."

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