Editorial: Room to expand medical cannabis

The medical cannabis dispensary program appears to be growing up, under quality-control supervision of the state Department of Health, and it may be time to take off a few training wheels.

Legal medical use of marijuana actually has reached adulthood, timewise, the law having been passed in 2000. But the system of dispensaries for product access didn’t actually launch until the first licensed location opened in 2017. Annual sales have grown from $18.2 million in 2018 to about $50 million by the end of last year.

However, the licensees believe they can be more competitive with the unregulated, illicit marijuana market if they are allowed to ramp up production and distribution, which is what House Bill 2260 seeks to allow. Such supports of the new industry should be possible, as long as the state’s oversight and guardrails remain in place.

The measure is set for its first public hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday, before the House Committee on Health, Human Services and Homelessness. Visit 808ne.ws/HB2260 for links to view the hearing and submit testimony remotely.

The state Department of Health (DOH) is certain to weigh in with its assessment, very likely to be the necessary call to keep regulatory controls intact. Its formal testimony hadn’t been submitted Friday, but the agency’s statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser emphasized the aim of its medical cannabis programs to “keep patients and the public safe.

“We continue to work with dispensary licensees to ensure that Hawaii residents have access to medical cannabis while balancing the health and safety of patients and the public.”

The bill proposes expanding the number of retail locations statewide to improve access. Current law authorizes the Health Department to license eight companies — three on Oahu, two each on Hawaii island and Maui and one on Kauai. Each can open two locations under law, although DOH has the discretion to allow one additional retail dispensary per licensee, which it has done. There are now 18 dispensaries across the islands.

But proponents assert that the number of registered patients has multiplied as well, reaching more than 34,000, which is far too many to be served adequately by 18 locations. Those living in Hawaii’s more remote areas need easier access than that, rather than turning instead to the untested products on the illegal market.

So the key provisions of the bill make sense:

>> Allow up to three retail locations per licensee, with DOH having the discretion to approve two more.

>> Permit each licensee to operate up to three production centers, each producing a maximum of 5,000 plants, up from 3,000. DOH also could approve 2,500 more plants per center.

>> Allow a single licensed production center to include multiple structures contained within the secured property.

>> Authorize licensees to make wholesale product transactions among themselves, as a fallback in case of supply-chain problems or production disruptions.

A total of 18 states have leapfrogged ahead of Hawaii to fully legalize recreational marijuana. Even so, being first has not translated into economic stability for those industries. California, for example, has sounded alarm bells about its own dispensary system withering under the same contest with illicit sellers.

There are also federal law changes that would be needed to remove cannabis from Schedule 1, the class of drugs considered most dangerous. They are essential for enabling normal banking services, helping businesses function.

Eliminating the illegal drug trade is not within reach, but Hawaii should take steps — careful ones — to ease the survival of this sector for those who want the reliably safe use of cannabis as medicine.