A week after patients celebrated the first legal sale of medical marijuana in Hawaii, the drug was unavailable Monday from lawful dispensaries.
The state’s first two dispensaries — Maui Grown Therapies and Aloha Green Holdings Inc. on Oahu — both ran out of product within five days in operation.
The dispensaries are blaming the state Department of Health, which in turn is blaming the only marijuana testing lab, Steep Hill Hawaii.
“We have waited over a decade. This is ridiculous,” said pot advocate Teri Heede, a 62-year-old Makakilo resident. “We told them at the very beginning … they were going to run out of product. We aren’t stupid, we’re sick. We’re desperate. We’re trying to take care of our children. We’re trying to take care of ourselves. This has gone beyond ridiculous.”
Mililani resident Jordan Apduhan, 30, was among the first Oahu residents to buy medication for chronic pain at Aloha Green on Wednesday.
“That’s crazy. I’m just waiting … again. There’s nothing … patients can do,” said Apduhan, who purchased 10 grams of pakalolo for about $200 at the dispensary. “I know they’re still working out the kinks. (But) I hope they can get it together where they don’t run out in the future and we don’t have to always be waiting for updates and just playing it by ear. I did buy on the black market since going to the dispensary because they did sell out so fast.”
On Friday, Aloha Green said it could not keep up with demand that was “three times” what it anticipated and would shut down for four days to replenish supply. Maui Grown notified customers over the weekend that its Monday opening to the public would be delayed because its most recent batch of cannabis flowers did not clear lab certification by Saturday. The Maui dispensary had been open since Tuesday, when it became the first in the state to sell legal pot.
Teri Gorman, spokeswoman for Maui Grown, said its supply issues are twofold: The DOH has not certified a lab to test derivative products such as oils, tinctures and lotions, creating a larger demand for flowers; and the state has certified only a single marijuana lab to test all the products for both dispensaries.
“We know from pre-opening research that 40 percent of patients are looking for derivative products (nonsmokable forms of cannabis),” Gorman said. “It’s never good to disappoint customers, but when you’re disappointing cannabis patients — people who are suffering — that’s just heart-wrenching.”
Both dispensaries plan to reopen Wednesday.
Maui Grown, which had planned to open last week with derivatives, called on the DOH to help “unclog a backlog of products.”
“Like you, we are disappointed and frustrated but we will be back to serve you as soon as possible,” Maui Grown said in an email to customers.
Aloha Green spokeswoman Helen Cho said, “One of the most popular questions right now is, Do (dispensaries) have edibles and do they have concentrates? A lot of people don’t like inhaling or smoking it. The whole process has made it very difficult for the dispensaries to open.”
Seeking certification
Dispensaries are allowed under state law to sell derivatives — such as lotions, oils and tinctures — but are not allowed to sell edibles, such as cookies, brownies or candy.
The DOH State Laboratories Division said Friday that the department is waiting for two labs — PharmLabs Hawaii and Clinical Laboratories of Hawaii — to complete validation tests required for certification.
“The department will certify these laboratories once they demonstrate their ability to conduct the appropriate testing of the product,” Margaret Leong, supervisor of DOH’s Medical Cannabis Dispensary Licensing Program, said in an email Monday. “Delays may result if laboratories lack adequate staff or resources to complete the work required for certification. Further questions or complaints about delays in product testing should be directed to Steep Hill Hawaii.”
Steep Hill Hawaii said it has completed all tests for both dispensaries.
“Our goal is to provide dispensaries with results within five days of sampling while continuing our Department of Health required validation studies for concentrates, tinctures, topicals and lozenges,” said CEO Dana Ciccone. “At this time Steep Hill Hawaii has no backlog of samples and continues to work with both dispensaries to ensure patients can continue to buy their medicine.”
Meanwhile the medical marijuana registry program — which authorizes patients to use cannabis for medical purposes — might face further delays. Patients have long complained about significant backlogs in obtaining medical marijuana cards.
As of July 31 there were 18,004 registered medical cannabis patients statewide.
Scottina “Scotty” Ruis, who oversees the state’s registry program at DOH, recently resigned from the position. The department said existing program staff will temporarily assume her duties while DOH searches for a replacement. In addition, DOH will be recruiting for two more workers “to ensure the registry program is adequately staffed.”
