Does the Medical Cannabis Program in Hawaii Need An Update?
By Ron S. Niehouse, Executive Director (Medical Cannabis Journal) (Hawaii)
06-28-2010
Hawaii -- Medical cannabis patients in the state of Hawaii are asking for safe access to get their medication. The group that is evaluating the medical cannabis program in Hawaii is preparing to make recommendations to the state legislature. The name of this group is The Medical Cannabis Working Group.
Nine years ago, Hawaii became the first state in the country to legislatively approve a medical marijuana program. Most patients, doctors, and caregivers believe this nine-year old law is outdated.
Currently, there are close to 5,000 patients in Hawaii who are legally able to use medical cannabis for their treatment. Many of whom are having a very difficult time acquiring the cannabis they need.
There is a movement in Hawaii now just gaining traction for people like this who cannot find a legal means to get the medication they are recommended to have. If a patient purchases medication it is most likely from the black market. This has sparked a movement to get the state of Hawaii on board. Distribution Centers are something medical cannabis patients in Hawaii seem to all agree is a great step. Although Hawaii is considered an agricultural state, there is a driving momentum to ask the state to include within their crops, medical cannabis for the few patients in Hawaii that require it. It would take very little effort on their part and it seems it would be a better alternative than having patients resort to the illegal-operations which the authorities are responsible for preventing. Right now those same people are making a profit strengthening the cartel and illegal-activity that Hawaiian law-enforcement with which will eventually have to face and deal; however, I do not think anyone in their right mind would consider this a good policy.
The Medical Cannabis Working group was developed for the Hawaii medical marijuana program. They have been gathering input from the community on this nine-year old bill. The recommendation could be a model of what the Department of Justice's (DOJ) new guidelines are representing. The DOJ's guidelines are very clear: that this country will not spend taxpayers 'money and precious time tracking down legitimate cannabis patients when there are real criminals out there with whom need to be dealt. For immediate release: on October 19th, 2009, the Obama administration chose to deviate from their guidelines to benefit state medical cannabis programs. It has been a long time, yet this was always President Obama's position on the matter. There is also video footage of him stating that this would be his decision long before he was ever elected president. This latter footage can be viewed or streamed on Google Video or YouTube.
Again, "Hawaii's medical cannabis law is in need of an reform" according to Hawaii's Medical Cannabis Working Group. Many have stated that the laws are just not properly defined. One thing I feel patients would agree on is that thereis no need to involve the Public Safety Department's Narcotics Enforcement Division, which is an invasion of basic doctor/patient confidentiality. Medical cannabislaw in Hawaii must be reassessed, updated and reformed. Given the gravity of the situation this issue will be taken very serious and there may even be state sanctioned medical cannabis growing operation in the flower state of Hawaii relatively soon.
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© This article is copyrighted by Medical Cannabis Journal 06-28-2010
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