Question: Can I get a Hawaii medical marijuana card for anxiety?

Answer: No, not if that is your sole diagnosis. Last month the state Department of Health denied a petition to add general anxiety disorder (GAD) as a qualifying condition in Hawaii’s Medical Cannabis Registry Program, which is for people certified to be suffering from a “debilitating medical condition” as defined in state law.

According to DOH, the list of conditions qualifying people to use medical cannabis includes cancer, glaucoma, lupus, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV, AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and, more generally, “a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following”: cachexia (wasting syndrome), severe pain, severe nausea, seizures or severe and persistent muscle spasms (including those consistent with Crohn’s disease).

In a Dec. 19 letter denying a patient’s petition to add general anxiety disorder as a qualifying condition, Health Director Virginia Pressler wrote that after careful consideration DOH had determined that “at this time, there is not sufficient evidence supporting the use of medical cannabis for GAD.”

DOH’s review of peer-reviewed scientific evidence found limited and inconclusive medical evidence that cannabis relieved symptoms of anxiety, social phobia and social anxiety disorder (SAD) and no evidence specific to GAD, the letter said. Moreover, “because the prevalence of GAD, high rate of comorbidities, and dearth of scientific evidence to support use of cannabis in the treatment of GAD, the potential for adverse outcomes is a public health concern.”

Comorbidity means a patient has more than one chronic disease or condition at the same time.

Unlike prescription medications overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which undergo clinical trials before being approved or rejected for treatment of specific health conditions, states that allow medical marijuana are left to regulate its specific use. Hawaii law requires the Health Department to review requests to expand the list of qualifying conditions and cite evidence that cannabis is an effective treatment.

Q: Do any states OK marijuana for anxiety?

A: “Of the 29 states and U.S. jurisdictions permitting medical cannabis, only one includes GAD as a qualifying health condition, and it does so in limited situations,” according to Pressler’s letter.

E kala mai

Please excuse me and others speeding on the H-1 Saturday morning. We had a good reason! — A reader

Auwe

Auwe to the fellows who threw firecrackers at me and my neighbors as we walked our dogs along 9th and 10th avenues in Palolo Valley between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. — A dog owner

Mahalo

I would like to thank the personnel of Waipio Costco. After hearing the missile threat alert, we turned in to their facility along with a confused and panicked crowd. We took shelter in their tire center with a few others. They did not turn people away. They even opened their warehouse early to accommodate those seeking shelter. They truly demonstrated the great aloha spirit. Mahalo for caring. — L.S., a grateful kupuna

Mahalo

I would like to send out a general mahalo to the employees of all the businesses who reacted well during Saturday’s confusion. From the news coverage and what I’ve seen on social media, it seems like people working at schools, businesses and other places all over the islands were trying to help people the best they could, calming them down, getting them inside safely, etc. Good for them! — A reader

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.