State urged to convince feds status of pot needs a change

Four Hawaii doctors earlier this month filed a petition with the state to put pressure on the federal government to change the classification of medical marijuana.

Marijuana is classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a “Schedule I controlled substance,” the most dangerous category of controlled substances, which includes heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and Ecstasy.

Dr. Clifton Otto of Honolulu and three other Hawaii doctors asked state Attorney General Douglas Chin to push for removing marijuana from the Schedule I list.

“Everyone who is selling marijuana is breaking federal law,” Otto said. “The state is allowing patients to engage in the use of the federally illegal controlled substance. That is certainly the state’s authority to do that, but part of the responsibility in giving patients that right is following up with the federal government.”

Physicians Charles Webb, Gary Greenly and Jim Berg signed the letter along with Otto. The doctors said the proposed rule change would help to correct the conflict between state and federal law.

“When the state of Hawaii accepted the medical use of marijuana in 2000, it created a direct conflict with the federal regulation of this substance, which needs to be corrected. The burden of resolving this conflict rests with the state because the state created this conflict in the first place,” the petition said.

Hawaii approved a state law in 2000 allowing for medical marijuana use by patients with a prescription. According to the DEA, Schedule I drugs are substances with no currently accepted medical use and that have a high potential for abuse. They are the most dangerous drugs in all the drug categories, and have potentially severe psychological or physical dependence, the DEA says.

In July, Gov. David Ige signed Act 241, which allows up to 16 dispensaries to distribute medical marijuana to qualified patients or primary caregivers beginning July 15, 2016.

“Now the state is going to move forward and allow commercial business to engage in the manufacturing and selling of an illegal substance, which is going to put all of those businesses at risk,” Otto said.

Including Hawaii, 23 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing smoked marijuana to be used for medical conditions.

Chin said he is preparing his response to the petition.

“We will be getting something back to Dr. Otto and the petitioners within the 30 days,” he said Thursday.

Chin said that, after speaking with different federal agencies last month, he thinks it’s unlikely the marijuana classification will change in 2016.

“The question came up,” Chin said. “The clear answer we got back from all of the agencies was that it seems very unlikely it will happen this year because it is an election year.”

Chin met with other attorneys general and their representatives from Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington last month in Washington, D.C., to discuss marijuana issues.

“Several of us went out to meet with the Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury,” he said. “The concern we have right now is when a lot of these dispensaries go live, they will be operating in all cash.”

Because of the Schedule I classification, banks are not accepting money from marijuana businesses in states where pot is legal. That has become a problem for marijuana businesses, which have to pay all salaries and bills in cash.