Medical cannabis belongs under health auspices

Hawaii legislators this year chose not to follow Colorado and Washington state in legalizing marijuana for personal use, but approved a move that has been an obvious path for years: placing the medical marijuana program under the Department of Health.

At long last, patients using marijuana to reduce a variety of ailments should expect sympathetic treatment from the agency in charge.

Approval of medical marijuana was recognized in 2000 by Hawaii, the first state to do so. However, while 18 states and the District of Columbia have implemented similar programs, Hawaii is one of only two states that have assigned a law enforcement agency — the Department of Public Safety — to be responsible for oversight.

The transfer to the Health Department would take effect at the beginning of 2015, if Gov. Neil Abercrombie signs House Bill 668 into law, as he should.

Medical benefits of marijuana have been confirmed as effective for numerous ailments, including migraine headaches, muscle spasms, cancer, AIDS and pain associated with spinal cord injuries.

Public Safety Director Ted Sakai acknowledged last week that the Department of Health "is more appropriate" to administer medical marijuana, "so philosophically, the program will be better placed with Health."

State Sen. Josh Green, a Hawaii island physician who chairs the Senate Health Committee, had expressed doubts about marijuana’s medical use. He now agrees that the change is "fundamental," as the distribution "is now going to be an exclusively health-focused program."

Coinciding is the change in Senate Bill 642, which changes the amounts of marijuana that patients may possess, from 4 ounces and seven total plants to three mature plants, four immature plans and 1 ounce of usable marijuana per each mature plant.

Presumably, that should address more intended needs for medical purposes.

The bill also would allow a patient to obtain a medical marijuana certificate from a primary-care physician. Patients now are issued blue cards, and that number has risen from 225 from the program’s first year to 8,000 two years ago and 12,000 today.

Skeptics have noted that the bulk of marijuana permits are for residents in their 20s and 30s, and most have cited severe pain as their medical conditions. What needs to happen now, under Health Department auspices, is to devise a tighter system for how medical marijuana is prescribed, dispensed and used — and not abused.

If legitimate patients turn to marijuana as a prescribed medication, it must be treated as a controlled substance, with the necessary parameters for use.