The State Department of Health Is Criticized for Its New Regulations on Medical Marijuana

Hawaii lawmakers criticized top Department of Health officials on Monday over new rules governing the growth and sale of medical marijuana, saying that health officials may have overstepped their statutory authority by prohibiting the use of greenhouses and excluding official retail outlets from selling rolled marijuana cigarettes and certain smoking paraphernalia.

"I get very frustrated when executive departments establish rules that go beyond what the Legislature opined," Sen. Roz Baker (D, West Maui-South Maui) told health officials who testified in front of a joint hearing of the House Health Committee and Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health Committee. "The Legislature makes policy and the executive branch implements that policy. So I would like you ... to look at those rules and in areas where they go beyond what the statute says specifically, take them down. They don't belong there."

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Twenty-three states plus the District of Columbia have legalized medical cannabis, and more are coming on board each year.

The belief that cannabis has no medicinal efficacy has been disproven in privately funded studies.

More clinical trials are critically needed. Yet, those studies cannot be performed as long as the Drug Enforcement Administration classifies cannabis as a Schedule I drug, which places it as having no medical use. This needs to change, and soon.

Congress is not moving fast enough, but there is another route: rescheduling cannabis as a Schedule II drug by executive order.

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Four Hawaii doctors earlier this month filed a petition with the state to put pressure on the federal government to change the classification of medical marijuana.

Marijuana is classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a "Schedule I controlled substance," the most dangerous category of controlled substances, which includes heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and Ecstasy.

Dr. Clifton Otto of Honolulu and three other Hawaii doctors asked state Attorney General Douglas Chin to push for removing marijuana from the Schedule I list.

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Enclosed-Growing Rule Could Cost Kauai Dispensary Investors Millions

A definition in the interim administrative rules for medical marijuana dispensaries posted this month could cost Kauai dispensary investors millions of dollars in utility and construction costs.

According to the interim rules, medically-grown marijuana shall be grown "in an enclosed indoor facility," as required by HB 321, the state law creating the dispensary program. An enclosed indoor facility rules out greenhouses, which proponents say could cut utility costs by half.

The structure would need a concrete floor and rigid steel sides that encloses the facility with all entry points secured, according the Department of Health. Additionally, the interior of the structure may not be visible from the outside.

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A Nonprofit Group Has Ranked Hawaii No. 6 for the State's Rate of Fatal Substance Use

We don't have nearly the extreme kind of heroin epidemic that you see on the mainland. ... What we most commonly see kids overdose with in Hawaii is still alcohol poisoning." Colleen Fox Director of adolescent programs, Hina Mauka

Hawaii has the sixth-lowest rate among the states of youth dying from drug overdoses, but the figure is trending upward across the country, according to a new report from the Trust for America's Health.

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Medical marijuana patients will not be allowed to sample their medicines before they buy when dispensaries open next year.

The state Health Department issued interim administrative rules Tuesday for the medical marijuana dispensary licensing program that require cannabis operators to grow their plants indoors and at least 750 feet away from schools and playgrounds. It also doesn't allow retail operators to hand out free samples or sell paraphernalia. The dispensaries will be highly regulated with unlimited unannounced inspections, the department said.

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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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