Pakalolo brownies, cookies and other edibles won’t likely be on the menu this year at Hawaii’s medical marijuana dispensaries.

The state Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health Committee rejected a proposal that would have allowed cannabis retailers to sell edibles to marijuana patients. Instead, lawmakers amended Senate Bill 527 to compel the state Department of Health to come up with standards and regulations for manufacturing edibles to be sold in the dispensaries, develop a universal symbol to distinguish edibles from regular food, and create a recall system — all before the 2020 legislative session.

“There’s just a lot of questions, particularly the concern with it being attractive to kids,” said Sen. Roz Baker (D, South and West Maui). “If they’re not labeled properly people don’t know how to use them. If they’re not cared for properly then we could have individuals that overdose and get sicker than they were. For the edibles, it’s just important to proceed with caution. You don’t want regular gummy bears alongside gummy bears that have THC in them.”

Danette Wong Tomiyasu, DOH deputy director of the Health Resources Administration, testified at a hearing on the bill Wednesday that the department had “substantial reservations” over the risk of accidental poisonings in adults and particularly children.

“They are most likely to suffer severe illness if intoxicated,” she said. “Edibles may be indistinguishable.”

A spokeswoman for Oahu’s first medical marijuana retailer, Aloha Green Apothecary, said edibles are one of the most effective ways for patients to consume their medicines, especially for older people who may not want to smoke. However, cannabis is significantly more potent when ingested versus inhaled.

“Dispensaries in Hawaii, we are ready and capable of producing top-quality edibles. But it’s really important that lawmakers have a well-thought-out plan that protects people but also meets the needs of patients,” said Helen Cho of Aloha Green, which already sells mints (considered a lozenge) containing THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in pot, and oral sprays considered tinctures, which are allowed under state law.

Randy Gonce of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii testified that edibles are a better way to know exactly the dosage of marijuana a patient is consuming, as opposed to flowers where you “really don’t know the amounts of medicine.”

“An edible can really get down to the gram … to treat your specific ailment,” he said.

The committee also shot down a bill that would require workers’ compensation insurers to reimburse marijuana patients for out-of-pocket costs of cannabis, opting instead to study the laws in other states that mandate reimbursement.

Lawmakers did approve Senate Bill 1524 to prohibit employers from firing or reprimanding workers who are medically certified or are certified and test positive for the drug, with the exception of law enforcement officers and state correctional employees.

“So many of our workers are in drug-free workplaces under federal rules so we’ve got to tread a little bit lightly, but we want to make sure that just because you have that card you’re not going to be fired or disciplined because medical marijuana stays in the system for such a long time,” Baker said.

Separately, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 686 to legalize the possession of small amounts of pakalolo for those over age 21 and subject the drug to a 15 percent surcharge on top of the general excise tax, with sales starting in February 2021.