Fifth medical pot dispensary gets green light

Hawaii’s fifth dispensary has received state approval to begin selling medical cannabis.

Cure Oahu got the green light Friday to open after passing a final Department of Health inspection and completing lab testing of its pakalolo.

The dispensary at 727 Kapahulu Ave. is one of three on Oahu, which already has Aloha Green Apothecary and Noa Botanicals in Honolulu.

Cure Oahu, backed by a local private investment group, will sell indica, sativa and hybrid cannabis flower strains, as well as lozenges and tinctures, when it opens to patients as early as next week.

Earlier this week the DOH also certified a second pot-testing laboratory on Oahu. Aeos Labs Inc., operated by Clinical Labs of Hawaii, got the OK on Tuesday to begin testing the drug from dispensaries, patients and caregivers.

Hawaii legalized medical marijuana in 2000, but the state’s first dispensary, Maui Grown Therapies, only opened in August. Another dispensary, Pono Life Maui, also sells cannabis on the island.

Green Aloha on Kauai said on its website it is scheduled to open this month by appointment only. Two others, on Hawaii island, are projected to open by the summer, according to the Health Department. There were 20,518 medical pot cardholders as of Feb. 28.