Hawaii’s Department of Health might not make the April 15 deadline for awarding the state’s first eight medical marijuana dispensary licenses.
The Health Department announced Friday, one week before it was scheduled to announce the winners, that one of the members on the selection panel, John Fisher III, a pharmacologist and toxicologist from Alabama, was “unable to fully participate” and will not be included in the process. Officials previously warned that the selection could be delayed if any panel members were disqualified.
“It has just recently come to my attention that Dr. John Fisher, through no fault on his part, was not able to continue with his review,” said Peggy Leong, supervisor of the medical marijuana dispensary licensing program, in a news release. “I’m not at liberty to share more details, in the interest of Dr. Fisher’s privacy.”
DOH noted the review and selection of the licensees will continue with the remaining four panel members: University of Hawaii professor H. David Bess, retired Hawaii Supreme Court Justice James E. Duffy Jr., state Department of Agriculture Deputy Director Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser and Office of Health Care Assurance chief Keith R. Ridley.
“We believe the review will be sufficiently rigorous with the remaining four members of the panel,” DOH Director Virginia Pressler said.
In addition, the department said it “encountered delays related to the required fingerprinting and background checks of the applicants.” DOH notified applicants Thursday night to submit their fingerprints to the state by Tuesday.
“These fingerprints could’ve been requested from the get-go,” said Carl Bergquist, executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii. “The applications were complex, and they’ve gone through this rigorous process. Then one week before the announcement of the winners, they require dozens of people scrambling to submit fingerprints. It doesn’t seem very professional. It would be extremely unfortunate if we have a delay in the announcement of the winners, because this was entirely avoidable. Any delay at any stage would mean a potential delay in the opening of the dispensaries, which is bad for patients.”
Health officials acknowledge they are facing tight timelines to meet the statutory deadlines, but are “committed to doing our best to meet them.”
“We are pushing ahead with the selection and doing everything possible to make the announcement by the April 15 deadline set out in the statute,” Pressler said. “But we would rather have a good result than release the names prematurely just to meet an arbitrary deadline.”
Leong added that if the applicants are not able to comply with the short turnaround time, or the department is unable to review the background check results when they are received, the final selection could be delayed.
“We know that this is not an ideal situation for them,” she said.
Hawaii legalized medical marijuana in 2000 but did not provide a way for patients to obtain the drug. Act 241, adopted last year, authorizes the DOH to issue eight licenses to sell medical cannabis — three on Oahu, two each on Hawaii island and Maui, and one on Kauai. Each licensee will be allowed to operate up to two production centers and two retail centers for a total of 16 dispensaries statewide.
For more information about the dispensary program, go to health.hawaii.gov/medicalmarijuana.
