A lot of veterans already have turned to medical cannabis to address their ills, in pursuit of something safer than opioid drugs. But U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz believes U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs doctors should be able to approve it.

Without the “safe harbor” legal protection the bill would offer, VA doctors would be hard-pressed to recommend it since federal law classes marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.

Schatz also needs to overcome the current administration’s jaundiced view of pot. Taking it off Schedule 1 seems the only fix — but that seems a long way off.

$800,000, approaching $1 million

Six years ago, the median sales price for a single-family home on Oahu topped $600,000. It moved past $700,000 just three years ago. Then, last month, it bumped to $800,000, according to a Honolulu Board of Realtors report released Thursday. When will the median hit the million-dollar mark? That’s anybody’s guess. But if the islandwide inventory remains tight, housing market watchers say, that will continue to spur upward pressure on prices, touching off more competition among prospective buyers. All for a home in paradise.