LIHUE >> A group of Kauai stakeholders plan to apply for a medical marijuana dispensary on the island, which they hope will be entirely locally funded and operated.

The Garden Island reports that since Gov. David Ige approved House Bill 321, which sets up a system of medical marijuana dispensaries, the Kauai Dispensary Project has been approached by three investors and has an advisory board of five members.

Dispensary Project lead director Judiah McRoberts says a dispensary on the island would create easier access for more than 1,800 medical marijuana patients on the island.

Hawaii was among the first states to legalize medical marijuana nearly 15 years ago. But the estimated 13,000 patients approved for the drug statewide have generally been left to buy it on the black market or grow it on their own.