The Hawai‘i Dispensary Alliance is pleased to release the March 2016 edition of the HDA Industry Update. This unique, members-only resource is the premier industry publication written exclusively for Hawai‘i’s medical marijuana industry.
In this issue we review the Alliance’s 2016 Legislative Platform and address our concerns with some of the other bills we have seen this session. We want to keep the industry updated on where things stand, and aware of the ideas and legislation which will likely arise again in future sessions. As of right now though, the Alliance’s own HB2707 omnibus bill and SB 2523 regarding greenhouses are the last bills standing, and we look forward to continuing to work with you all to turn them into the bills we need to succeed as an industry. If you have any comments on these bills or want to know when to submit your testimony, just contact us and we’ll put you on our legislative mailing list.
We have a couple of articles continuing the discussion we began in our February Edition of the Industry Update regarding both opioid use and descheduling of marijuana at the state level. There are increasingly strident calls at the highest levels of state and federal government to encourage research into medical marijuana and its positive role in replacing opioid use and reducing opioid overdose deaths. This call for federal action is mirrored in another article discussing the interaction between State and Federal law answering the question of whether or not descheduling marijuana at the state level would have any effect on the industry in Hawai‘i.
Finally, this edition of the HDA Industry Update includes a long-form article discussing the growth of the Medical Marijuana Industry in Israel – which, it turns out, is remarkably similar to what Hawai‘i’s industry will look like in 2-3 years – right down to the number of dispensaries and the size of the patient base. But those are just a couple of the similarities, more importantly, the article discusses how the growth of Israel’s industry provides a template for the future of the medical marijuana economy in Hawai‘i. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on the comparison and on what you see as the future of medical marijuana in Hawai‘i.
Join the Alliance today to receive the HDA Industry Update every month and to take an active role in the future of Hawai‘i’s medical marijuana industry. It is the Alliance’s mission to provide up-to-date and relevant industry information to the patients, dispensary applicants, and related businesses of Hawai‘i’s growing medicinal cannabis industry. Contact us today and we will send you the March 2016 edition of the newsletter absolutely free to say thank you for your interest! You can also find us on Facebook or Twitter.