Delays Hold Up Medical Cannabis in Hawaii

Even though medical cannabis dispensaries are beginning to pop up all over Hawaii, cannabis product still cannot be sold in stores.

According to the ABC News, this means that while dispensaries already have product, payroll, upkeep expenses and rent to pay, they can’t move any product to make up those costs.

“For us it’s a little frustrating, having so many people on board, but it has to be done,” said James H.Q. Lee, CEO of Aloha Green. “I’m more concerned for the patients, because people have been calling: ‘We see it online, when are you going to open? We need our medical cannabis.'”

Hawaii actually legalized medical cannabis symbolically 17 years ago, but dispensaries were only made legal in 2015. As soon as dispensaries were legalized, they began to seriously plan operations. However, dispensaries are still waiting on the proper regulations to be outlined in order for them to sell cannabis legally.

The reason for the holdup is that Hawaii does not yet have a supportive infrastructure in place for medical cannabis. Dispensaries were built last summer, but still have no seed-to-sale system, making them unable to track the product. Because Hawaii is such a small state with an isolated population, they also lack other basic necessities, like a testing lab for ensuring product safety. They also have to deal with high costs due to importing, which makes everything a longer process.

“The idea of having dispensaries open in a year was extremely ambitious,” Becky Dansky, legislative analyst for the national Marijuana Policy Project.

While Hawaii’s heart is in the right place when it comes to legalization and getting medicine to its citizens, there are clearly some hurdles that result from Hawaii’s unique placement on the map. Still, the state presses on towards legal access for patients.