With 13,000 people registered for the state medical marijuana program — among the first in the nation when formed 14 years ago — the time for pilot projects and studies has long passed, said Karl Malivuk, a registered patient.
"It’s time that we have a dispensary system, not a pilot," Malivuk told fellow members of the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Task Force. "A pilot project, to us, is: ‘Let’s kick the can down the road.’"
The 21 members of the task force met for the first time Tuesday to begin the work of developing recommendations to the 2015 Legislature for establishing a medical marijuana distribution system. Without dispensaries, patients must grow it themselves, have a caregiver to grow it for them or obtain it illegally.
Lawmakers came close to setting up a pilot program for distribution centers in 2011, but the proposal stalled in the final days of the session.
Malivuk, 66, a retired information technology specialist who has been diagnosed with an incurable liver disease, said the time for pilot programs is long gone.
"I am walking, talking empirical evidence that dispensary systems work," Malivuk said after the meeting, citing his experiences in New Mexico, where he was a registered patient in that state’s distribution system and was able to access any one or all of 23 dispensaries statewide.
He registered under Hawaii’s program about a year ago, a few months after returning to Hawaii to retire with his wife and care for his mother-in-law.
"That’s when I saw how convoluted the system was and essentially how unworkable the system is here," he said.
Under Hawaii law, a patient who obtains a prescription from a doctor and undergoes a certification and training program may possess up to seven marijuana plants and 4 ounces of usable marijuana. The patient is required to carry a yellow identification card that certifies the patient, or a designated caregiver, may possess the product.
Dispensaries would be locations where patients or caregivers could go to obtain the medical marijuana without hassle or fear of being stopped by law enforcement.
Peter Whiticar, an official with the state Department of Health, which will take oversight of the program from the Department of Public Safety beginning in January, said several issues still need to be worked out regarding dispensaries. They range from whether the dispensaries would be publicly or privately operated, whether they will have nonprofit or for-profit status and the extent of training devoted to staff. Other concerns include funding, zoning, security, selecting products for sale, labeling, database and patient tracking, and administrative rules.
Several members suggest studying what other states have done — Hawaii and 21 other states plus Washington, D.C., have medical marijuana programs. Officials said 19 of those states have set up dispensary systems.
Jari Sugano, 40, of Mililani, whose 5-year-old daughter suffers from a severe form of epilepsy, said one of the main problems linked to cultivating her own plants is being able to test the finished product for consistency. They enrolled in the program in October 2013.
In the past few months, Sugano said, as she has learned more about growing and filtering ingredients, her daughter has had a decrease in seizures and shown improved cognitive abilities.
"Hopefully, what we can do here today is to create a system where people would have access to a quality product, they would have a consistent supply and … it will be something that they can afford to acquire," she said.
"I’m hoping that this is just the first step in that process."
