HONOLULU (AP) — With less than five months until medical marijuana dispensaries are up and running, Hawaii lawmakers are considering a bill to create an oversight committee for the future industry.
Sixteen years after Hawaii became the first state to legalize medical marijuana, the state is months away from granting licenses for marijuana businesses. The law allows for eight licenses across the state, each with two production centers and two dispensaries.
The bill would establish a committee that would evaluate the effectiveness of dispensaries to meet patients’ needs as well as the security involved with production centers and dispensaries. It would also examine the affordability of medicine and whether to allow edibles.
Lawmakers are still deciding who should be on the committee, which might include members from the state, medical community and patients.