Hawaii’s first two medical marijuana dispensaries sold a combined 57 pounds of buds totaling more than $426,000 in sales since opening in early August.
Maui Grown Therapies and Oahu’s Aloha Green Apothecary, formerly Aloha Green Holdings Inc., saw 7,845 customer visits and sold 8,890 products as of Sept. 19, according to data from the state Department of Health presented Wednesday to a legislative oversight group for medical cannabis.
Customers bought an average 3.3 grams and spent $54.33 per purchase, the DOH said. The average cost per gram was $16.45.
Meanwhile, six of the eight licensed dispensaries are growing pakalolo, and two of them are expected to open next month.
Manoa Botanicals plans to begin operations at Oahu’s second dispensary at the former Krazy Karaoke at 1308 Young St., while Pono Life Sciences on Maui is also expected to start sales.
Cure Oahu has begun production and plans to open its Kapahulu retail location later this year, while Green Aloha on Kauai is anticipating its first harvest in early December so that it can open a retail location in January, said Keith Ridley, who oversees the DOH dispensary program.
The two Hawaii island dispensaries — Hawaiian Ethos and Lau Ola — are further behind. Both are still working on getting building permits, he said.
As the dispensaries open, the DOH has seen an increase in the number of people applying to use medical marijuana. There were more than 18,600 registered patients as of August, an increase of 615 from the month before.
The department is struggling to keep up with the growth. The DOH receives about 1,700 applications per month, with turn-around times to issue medical marijuana registry cards averaging around six business days, up from three to four days previously.
That’s partly due to staffing problems, Ridley said. Scottina “Scotty” Ruis, who oversees the state’s registry program at DOH, recently resigned from the position. The DOH is still searching for a replacement.
“We hope to get back on track with that,” he said.
