Hawaii set to open dispensaries

By Rilwan Balogun and Anne M. Shearer
@News21

The state of Hawaii will have medical marijuana dispensaries as soon as July 2016, with or without the signature of Gov. David Ige.

During a news conference Monday, Ige listed the bills on his desk he intends to veto, and the bill that allows for medical marijuana dispensaries was not among them.

“They will become law without my signature or I will have until July 14 to sign them,” said Ige, a Democrat.

Fifteen years ago, Hawaii legalized medical marijuana. But patients must grow their own supply of the medicine.

For patients like Teri Heede, this often means going to black market suppliers because of the challenges associated with growing medicinal marijuana.

“Seven plants is very hard to manage,” she said. “You’re going to go to the black market.”

Heede said there is only one strain of marijuana that helps alleviate her pain from multiple sclerosis. It took Heede 10 years to find the right strain, she said.

“That strain has been difficult to preserve … I am not the best grower in the world. That will kill your whole entire crop, just by not being a really good grower,” Heede said.

The bill to allow dispensaries passed in the last hour of the legislative session after a difficult battle to keep it alive.

State Sen. Will Espero was integral in getting the bill passed both as a legislator and as a member of the Dispensary Task Force, which assisted in drafting the legislation.

“We passed legislation 15 years ago and that legislation was incomplete,” said Espero, a Democrat. “There were some gaping holes in it. And this bill closes those holes and now provides safe access to secure quality medical cannabis.”

This legislation provides for eight companies to open up to two dispensaries each. It also allows patients with out-of-state medical marijuana cards to use their cards legally in Hawaii.

Some opponents of the bill said they worry dispensaries will increase use rates among youth.

Alan Shinn, executive director for the Coalition for a Drug Free Hawaii, said he has many concerns about the legitimacy of medical marijuana use in Hawaii.

“There are 13,000 (patients) approximately in Hawaii, of that probably 5 percent are the ones I would say I would not oppose them having medical marijuana and those are the ones with hard to treat epilepsy, like Dravet syndrome, those that have terminal cancer.

“ … what we have some concerns with are the other 95 percent,” Shinn said.

The Department of Public Safety previously ran the marijuana program, but the Department of Health took over earlier this year.

Scottina Ruis, director for the Medical Marijuana Program, will now oversee the licensing of each dispensary. This will involve criminal history checks for all personnel, including applicants, prospective employees and subcontractors.

“We’re dedicated. This is our only function,” Ruis said. “Whereas in the the past, the staff who had been running the program had to do this as well as whatever their other job duties were.”

Rilwan Balogun is the John and Patty Williams Fellow. Anne M. Shearer is an Ethics and Excellence Fellow. Follow them at @rilwanb5 and @annemshearer.