KAILUA-KONA » Hawaii’s Medical Marijuana Dispensary Task Force will recommend that licenses for marijuana production centers and dispensaries be offered in 2017, according to the state representative overseeing the group.

Rep. Della Au Belatti (D, Moiliili-Makiki-Tantalus) said the task force finished its work this week. She is working on a bill for the House to consider when the Legislature convenes Jan. 21, West Hawaii Today reported Thursday.

"The recommendations are really just a starting point," she said. "Some of the recommendations will be taken up, and some of them won’t."

The group recommended that the Department of Health determine the number of dispensary licenses based on a guideline ratio of 1 for every 500 patients, with at least one dispensary in each county.

It recommended that an application for a dispensary license cost $20,000, with $18,000 refunded if the application is unsuccessful. Annual license renewal would cost $30,000, the task force recommended.

The group also recommended the Department of Health begin offering dispensary and producers licenses Jan. 1, 2017. Dispensaries could begin operations July 1, 2017.

The task force recommended that medical marijuana production center licenses be issued based on a ratio that allows up to 1,000 plants at any one time, and that at least 30 producer licenses be offered Jan. 1, 2017.

The group recommended that producers and dispensaries be permitted to transport medical marijuana within Hawaii in accordance with Health Department security requirements.

Former Gov. Ben Caye­tano signed Hawaii’s medical marijuana law in 2000. Marijuana can be prescribed for cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, persistent muscle spasms and other medical conditions approved by the state Department of Health.