Marijuana dispensary approved for Big Island

The state is giving the green light to the last of eight dispensaries to begin growing pakalolo.

Lau Ola, run by Big Island farmer Richard Ha, received approval from the Health Department, more than a year after medical marijuana sales started on Maui and Oahu.

“This is a milestone for the company and for the state medical program,” Ha said. “We have gone above and beyond state standards to ensure production of the highest-quality cannabis medicine in the Pacific.”

The company, which faced numerous delays due to county permitting and an unexpected change in production center plans, built a large indoor facility on the Hamakua Coast. Sales are expected to begin at the start of the year at three retail locations in Hilo, Kona and Waimea.

“It’s real difficult because when you’re carrying staff and it’s longer than necessary, that’s a heavy burden,” said Ha, who has more than a dozen employees. “It has been a while, but the county has had emergencies they’ve had to deal with. The Fire Department couldn’t come inspect us when we were hoping for it. A lot of times they were occupied with the eruption and other things.”

The state announced the selection of eight dispensary licensees in April 2016. Ha had hoped to open in 2017.

Big Island patients, who have had to grow their own marijuana for nearly two decades since medical cannabis was legalized, will have access for the first time to clean, lab-tested marijuana, he said.

The state legalized medical cannabis in 2000, but patients had no legal way to obtain the drug until Maui Grown Therapies opened in August 2017, followed by Aloha Green Apothecary in Honolulu. The other pot retailers include Pono Life Maui and Noa Botanicals and Cure Oahu in Honolulu. In May, Green Aloha Ltd., doing business as Have a Heart, also started sales on Kauai. In August, Hawaiian Ethos LLC, the other Hawaii island dispensary, received approval to begin growing.

“It’s a really big hurdle that we accomplished,” he said. “The people are very sophisticated, the people on the Big Island. They know what they’re looking at. You’d be surprised how experienced the people are. We have a whole bunch of strains we’re experimenting with, but it will all be driven by customer demand.”

Each dispensary can operate two production facilities — that each may grow up to 5,000 plants — and two retail centers for a total of 16 production and 16 retail sites statewide. Lau Ola got an exception to open a third retail location in Waimea because it is an underserved area.