Tag the plants, pot rules warn

State officials are warning Hawaii’s medical marijuana patients and caregivers to tag their plants and carry their registration cards to avoid getting in trouble with the law.

The requirements are part of an amended set of rules proposed by the state Department of Health and approved by Gov. David Ige in July.

According to the updated rules, anyone registered to grow marijuana plants must have a legible identification tag on each marijuana plant, up to the allowable limit of seven plants. The tags must show the patient’s registration number and expiration date of the card.

Specific tagging guidelines are found online at the Hawaii Medical Marijuana Registry Program website at health.hawaii.gov/medicalmarijuana.

In addition to tagging plants, patients and caregivers are required to carry their registration card and valid ID whenever they are in possession of medical marijuana.

This means that neither patients nor caregivers are authorized to begin the use of medical marijuana until they receive their registration card, officials said.

This is a point of contention with Dr. David Barton, an Oahu-based physician who certifies medical cannabis patients, and others.

“The law says you only need a medical doctor’s certificate, so this is one area that needs to be resolved,” Barton wrote on his website.

The wait for medical marijuana cards can take a month or longer, in part because the program has a staff of only four.

“But cancer patients need immediate protection, as they have immediate needs due to chemotherapy and other treatments. Seizure kids as well. There are lots of people who have immediate needs, and the state is making ALL wait for their process,” Barton wrote.

Scottina “Scotty” Malia Ruis, the DOH’s medical marijuana registry coordinator, said her staff is doing the best it can to expedite the registration process.

“We’re hoping to get caught up,” Ruis said. But the rules, as written, are specific, she said: A registration card is necessary before any growing or use is allowed.

The good news, Ruis said, is that the department is developing a fully online application system that aims to reduce by at least half the turnaround time for issuing registration cards by the end of the year.

Ruis added that patients should renew their registration cards, which are good for a year, before they expire if they intend to continue using medical marijuana. A card can be renewed up to 60 days before the expiration date.

More than 13,000 people in Hawaii have been issued registration cards since the state’s medical marijuana program was established in 2000.

Other rule updates:

» Post-traumatic stress disorder has been added to the program’s list of debilitating medical conditions, the first new condition added to the list since the law was adopted 15 years ago. The addition came with this year’s adoption of Act 241, the law that established a dispensary system across Hawaii.

» A new petition process allows physicians and patients to propose other medical conditions to be added to the list of qualifying conditions.

» In addition to accepting a valid Hawaii driver’s license or state ID when applying for a registration card, the program now accepts a valid driver’s license or state photo ID card from any state, or a valid passport.

» Act 241 also resulted in a rule that no longer requires the patient’s primary care physician to be the certifying physician for the program. But the rule also requires the certifying physician to establish and maintain responsibility for the assessment, care and treatment of the patient’s debilitating medical condition.

The DOH took over the registry program from the state Department of Public Safety at the beginning of the year. The Medical Marijuana Registry Program and the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program both fall under the DOH but are two separate programs.

The department has until Jan. 4 to finalize rules governing the dispensary program. Licensed dispensaries are expected to be operational by July. Once the dispensaries are up and running, qualified patients will be able to obtain up to 4 ounces of cannabis or cannabis-infused products, such as oils, tinctures or lozenges, from a licensed provider every 15 days.