MMJ Tourism in Hawaii?

High Times
Wed, Apr 20, 2011

by Mark Miller

Hawaii is a state known for its ridiculously tasty and potent cannabis and a new bill could eventually permit medical marijuana patients from the mainland to partake of strains like Pineapple Express while on vacation. Senate Bill (SB) 1458 was introduced in January by Senator Kalani English (D, East Maui-Lanai-Molokai), to establish a dispensary program in Hawaii.

As Senator English told Maui Time Weekly "I took this up because I saw people who were suffering, sometimes in the last months of their life. And they were asking, 'Where can I get my medicine?'"

Most intriguing would be a provision that would permit patients visiting from states that have legalized medi-pot to purchase a $100 temporary license. Such a provision would be appealing indeed to the depleted state coffers, as would the proposed 30% excise tax on medicine. In fact, monetary concerns have helped to push the bill rapidly through both chambers of the Hawaii State Legislature, though the amended bill that passed through the House only allows one dispensary on Maui for a pilot program of five years (originally every island was to have a dispensary). More controversial, a dispensary must provide a complete patient list to law enforcement, which will have 24/7 video surveillance and total access to all dispensaries, though English noted that any provision of SB 1458 could be changed or deleted before the program is officially implemented.

Law enforcement officers aren't thrilled with the bill and actually had uniformed on-duty Maui Police Dept (MPD) officers handing out anti-pot pamphlets outside the Kahului Wal-Mart, which prompted Senator English to accuse MPD of crossing a line:

"Their job is to enforce the laws that exist, not to pass out propaganda trying to change the law," he says. "It seems like law enforcement is trying to suppress what many citizens would deem okay."

There was even a medical marijuana "summit" held in March in which only opponents of SB 1458 were permitted to speak, and they even flew in narc officers from LAPD to warn Hawaiians on the "dangers" of dispensaries like those dotting Los Angeles.

Medical marijuana has been legal in Hawaii since 2000 with the passage of SB 862, which was the first time a state legislature legalized medi-pot as opposed to a voter initiative. But even without the dispensaries, the Honolulu Star Advisor reports that medi-pot has become big business on the Big Island, where the majority of the 8,000+ pot patients in Hawaii currently reside – even though only a small percentage of the state's total population lives there. Doctors charge up to $300 to recommend marijuana to patients, who must recertify each year. Currently patients can legally cultivate – but not purchase – cannabis, hence the necessity for dispensaries with the increasing number of medical users. The demand is such that doctors from Portland, Oregon frequently fly to Hawaii to register patients. The first conference committee meeting on SB 1458 is appropriately enough, scheduled for today… 4/20.

Original article: http://hightimes.com/news/mmiller/7059

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