HONOLULU (AP) - Industry experts say there are a lot of chemicals that could contaminate Hawaii's medical marijuana.

Dispensaries are set to open throughout the state in July, and lawmakers are pushing a broad bill to address many of the obstacles the industry is facing. One is how to regulate marijuana testing.

The proposed state law would set requirements for testing medical marijuana's potency and also would test for contaminants such as heavy metals, bacteria and pesticides, which industry experts say is necessary to ensure patient safety. Under state rules, dispensaries must send all marijuana products to a certified laboratory for testing.

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Outdated drug policies around the world have resulted in soaring drug-related violence, overstretched criminal justice systems, runaway corruption and mangled democratic institutions.

After reviewing the evidence, consulting drug policy experts and examining our own failures on this front while in office, we came to an unavoidable conclusion: The "war on drugs" is an unmitigated disaster.

FOR NEARLY a decade, we have urged governments and international bodies to promote a more humane, informed and effective approach to dealing with "illegal" drugs.

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Industry experts say there are a lot of chemicals that could contaminate Hawaii's medical marijuana.

Dispensaries are set to open in Hawaii in July, and state lawmakers are pushing a broad bill to address many of the obstacles the industry is facing. One is how to regulate marijuana testing.

The proposed Hawaii law would set requirements for testing medical marijuana's potency and would also test for contaminants such as heavy metals, bacteria and pesticides, which industry experts say is necessary to ensure patient safety. Under state rules, dispensaries must send all marijuana products to a certified laboratory for testing.

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Nearly 2-1/2 years after California revoked a physician's medical license for misconduct, local regulators decided Thursday to revoke his Hawaii credentials.

But the chairman of the Hawaii Medical Board, which voted to yank the license of Dr. Daniel Susott, said he's hoping future cases involving Hawaii-licensed physicians disciplined in other states take less time to resolve.

"We should not see cases like this anymore," Dr. Niraj Desai, who heads the panel that makes final disciplinary decisions involving doctors, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after Thursday's board meeting.

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The concern about how the federal government will affect legalized medical cannabis (marijuana) dispensaries in the Hawaiian Islands (as a state of islands marijuana sales tricky for Hawaii, Feb. 29) is another reason to vote for Sen. Bernie Sanders on the March 26, Democratic Presidential Primary Caucus. Sanders, is committed to removing cannabis from its historically discredited Schedule I substance classification alongside heroin (while meth and cocaine are only Schedule II substances), which will allow interstate and interisland commerce without threat from the federal government.

Stan White

Dillon, Colo.

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Feasibility Study Suggests Crop Will 'Grow Like Gangbusters'

Bills that would allow the state Department of Agriculture to create pilot research programs for industrial hemp are moving through both chambers of the state Legislature.

"I'm very happy that the bill is alive at this point," state Sen. Russell Ruderman, D-Puna, said of SB 2659, the Senate measure he co-introduced.

SB 2659 and its House counterpart, HB 2555, are not companion bills, but have the same aim of establishing the DOA research program.

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It appears there are too many questionable hands adding ingredients to the pot regarding marijuana here in Hawaii.

Whatever is cooking is producing a stinking odor.

First, the state Department of Health said no to releasing names of those who will decide who gets a dispensary license.

Next, marijuana has to be grown in warehouses using electricity instead of taking advantage of our plentiful sunlight. The high cost of electricity would drive the consumer price sky-high.

Finally the state gets gigantic tax revenues due to marijuana's high sales price. So it seems that the state's revenue would increase from marijuana rather than gambling.

What does the state consider worse: gambling or increasing crime and the increased drug use that results from marijuana leading to harder drugs?

Teresa Mary Tugadi

Mililani

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Geography of State May Prove Challenging for Marijuana Industry

HONOLULU - With less than five months to go before medical marijuana dispensaries can open in Hawaii, business owners could be facing unique obstacles in a state of islands separated by federal waters.

Dispensaries can open as soon as July 15, but industry experts say they could be confronted with challenges unlike those in other states, such as navigating rules that ban inter-island transport and limit the number of growers - all of which could cause marijuana shortages. A lack of labs to test the crop presents another challenge for state lawmakers.

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As a growing number of states recognize the importance of providing legal access to patients who benefit from medical marijuana, it becomes even more implausible that research is so uniquely - and unfairly - restricted.

Patients with conditions such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), epilepsy, chronic pain and migraines deserve research that can determine the optimum medication content and procedure.

Even with research that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), federal policies require a redundant, multi-agency review process that creates unnecessary red tape and wasteful government spending.

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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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