Switch to online is hobbling medical pot registry system

Question: I’m a cancer physician. In my last practice in California, I was accustomed to filling out paperwork for appropriate patients to acquire medical cannabis. I wished to continue that practice here. When I went to the Department of Health’s medical marijuana registry website and entered my license number and my state controlled-substance registration number, it said my number was invalid. When I called the help line number listed, the phone seemed to always be left off the hook. When I emailed the address given, it got kicked back. I finally was able to register on the website. However, after I enter details requested, the program keeps asking the same questions and refuses to proceed. If I as the doctor can’t register on this site, how can an enfeebled patient ever manage to do so?

Answer: The best way to contact the medical marijuana registry staff is to email medicalmarijuana@doh.hawaii.gov, said Janice Okubo, spokeswoman for the Health Department.

She noted that the "help line" number you called is for certified copies of vital records and is busy throughout the day, accounting for the busy signals you encountered.

Contact and other information on registration is available on the department’s website at health.hawaii.gov/medicalmarijuana.

As explained by the medical marijuana registration staff, physicians must "link" their state-issued controlled-substance registration number with their physician license number using the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’ website — myPVL — in order for their number to be valid, Okubo said.

After using the email address she provided, you informed us that you received a response, with an apology that the registry is still transitioning into a fully online system.

It’s only been since Jan. 1 that Hawaii’s Medical Use of Marijuana Program transferred from the state Department of Public Safety to the Health Department, under Act 177, passed by the state Legislature in 2013.

When the registry was managed by Public Safety, it was estimated that about 200 physicians had participated in certifying patients over the past 14 years. No current figure is available because it will take at least a year to review the level of participation following the transition, Okubo said.

The Legislature also passed Act 178, which redefined an "adequate supply" of medical marijuana from three mature plants, four immature plants and 1 ounce of usable marijuana to seven marijuana plants, regardless of maturity, and 4 ounces of usable marijuana at any given time.

To be able to legally use marijuana, a patient has to be diagnosed as having a debilitating medical condition, and the physician has to certify in writing that "the potential benefits of the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the health risks for the particular qualifying patient."

The physician is not allowed to provide the marijuana. Under state law, only a parent, guardian or person having legal custody must consent in writing to allow the qualifying patient’s medical use of marijuana, serve as the primary caregiver and control the acquisition and use of marijuana.

Medical marijuana is covered under Sections 329-121 to 329-128 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes: 1.usa.gov/1CdTjiU.

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