Thank you all for your insightful and detailed comments regarding the State Department of Health’s recently released interim rules for Hawai’i’s new medical marijuana dispensary system, merit criteria for the dispensary applications, and FAQ addressing initial questions about the interim rules. Today your Hawai’i Dispensary Alliance was extremely honored to present the industry’s view of DoH’s new rules at an informational briefing at the Capitol, before the House Committee on Health and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health.
Thanks to you, the informational briefing was a real success for both the industry and the Alliance as we were able to provide original feedback and comments on DoH’s implementation of the rules to the Legislature which they have not received from any other source. This was due in large part to your detailed feedback over the last week and our own in-depth analysis of DoH’s new rules. In preparing our statement we heard from dispensary applicants across the state, community boards, local businesses, patients, and interested individuals, each discussing the impact which different provisions will have on their interests, businesses, causes, neighborhoods, communities, children, medical patients, and Hawai’i’s economy, culture, and future.
The Alliance’s statement can be found here.
Our statement addressed four chief concerns with DoH’s current administrative approach:
- The Merit Criteria Scoring System
- The Prohibition on Greenhouses
- The Definition of a “Plant” under both Act 241 and Chapter 11-850
- The Issue of Smokables
The statement also included a detailed analysis of a number of additional issues throughout the bill, which the Committees quoted liberally from in the later question and answer period. The Alliance’s complete analysis of the informational briefing, the Legislature and DoH’s response to the issues, and the likely direction of the industry will be available in our December newsletter. Contact us to find out how you can receive your copy.
Thanks to your input, your Alliance made a favorable impression today with the Legislature, DoH, and the industry at large. We look forward to working closely with each of these stakeholders to realize the success of Hawai’i’s medical marijuana industry going forward. We are also excited as we continue to strive to provide lobbying representation, business networking, and industry information to Hawai’i’s medical marijuana industry.
If you have any questions about this process or you want to be more directly involved, please contact us soon. We look forward to speaking with you in person, on Facebook or Twitter, and over the phone. You should also consider joining the Alliance to take on a larger role in directing the industry into the future, make profitable business alliances, and receive the Hawai’i’s only state specific industry analysis in our monthly newsletter.