Aloha Alliance,
The Hawaii State Department of Health Cannabis Registry Program posted the latest patient growth numbers for December 2017.
- Patient numbers grew by only 108 new patients in December 2017: from 19,750 to 19,858 at the end of the month.
- This is the second month in a row with very slow growth of new patient numbers and is cause for concern. Estimates show that based on Hawai‘i’s population, the Hawai‘i medical cannabis industry has only reached registration of about 50% of Hawai‘i’s likely patient population. This new trend could be in part a result of the short-staffed Medical Cannabis Registry Program and an increasing turnaround time to process applications, which is now at 10 days; a lack of physicians and APRNs willing to certify patients to use medical cannabis; or the lack of operational dispensaries overall across the state, with three dispensaries only serving patients on O‘ahu and Maui.
- Additional breakdowns of patient numbers by county, age, gender, and condition will be released in January 2018, and can be found here.
It is the Alliance’s mission to provide up-to-date and relevant industry information to the patients, current and future dispensaries, and related businesses of Hawai‘i’s growing medicinal cannabis industry. If you are not yet a member of the Hawai‘i Dispensary Alliance, join today to receive Cannabis Insider bi-monthly, and take an active role in the future of Hawai‘i’s medical marijuana industry. Contact us today and we will send you the Cannabis Insider November/December 2017 edition absolutely free. You can also find us on Facebook or Twitter. Raise your voice, take action, and join the Hawai‘i Dispensary Alliance today.