Hawaii Governor Josh Green has signed off an executive order to protect caregivers who provide medical cannabis to qualified patients in the state.
Up to this point, caregivers and registered patients in Hawaii were allowed to grow up to 10 cannabis plants. But through a mistake on the part of lawmakers, changes to Hawaii’s medical cannabis laws that came into effect on January 1 would have seen caregivers no longer allowed to grow cannabis for a patient; with some exceptions.
Last-minute action from the Governor has provided a stop-gap measure. His executive order directs the state’s Department of Health to not pursue caregivers cultivating cannabis for a patient when they are doing so within what were existing laws.
Josh Green isn’t just the state’s Governor, he is a medical doctor who spent decades caring for Big Island’s families.
“We have medical cannabis statutes to provide patients the relief each desperately needs as they navigate very serious health issues,” said Governor Green. “We must protect the patients and their caregivers when the caregivers cultivate cannabis for a patient in a manner that fits squarely within the spirit of the medical-cannabis law.”
The Department of Health has backed the executive order, stating it strongly supported allowing caregivers to continue cultivating for patients.
But this is only a band-aid fix, and the Governor is urging Hawaii’s Legislature to properly address the issue.
Under Hawaii’s medical cannabis program, a patient must designate a single grow site on their application; which can be a patient’s residence, registered primary caregiver’s residence, or another site the patient or primary caregiver owns or controls. Each cannabis plant at the registered grow site must be tagged with the patient’s registration number and expiration date, and only the patient or the primary caregiver can handle those plants.
Currently Hawaii’s medical marijuana program requires patients to be diagnosed with at least one of a limited number of conditions to be eligible. But after a recreational legalization bill failed last year, the Governor suggested expanding the state’s system to allow people to register based on any health issue.
As at the end of November 2024, 30,035 patients had a valid medical cannabis registration and 2,609 caregivers were registered. The most common conditions for which cards have been issued to patients were severe pain, PTSD and persistent muscle spasms.
H/T: hempgazette.com
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