HILO — Those selected to open Hawaii’s first medical marijuana dispensaries later this month may eventually be able to grow in greenhouses and shadehouses, under certain conditions.
The idea, which proponents say would keep electricity bills low for dispensaries and prices at bay for patients, was pitched in several bills at the state Legislature, including two now-defunct measures introduced by Puna Democrats state Sen. Russell Ruderman and state Rep. Joy San Buenaventura. It remains alive in omnibus House Bill 2707, now the lone measure moving forward with the concept.
“If there are two similar bills, we have to pick one, so I’m happy to take credit for this idea going forward, which I felt was very important,” Ruderman said Monday.
If passed, House Bill 2707 would amend the definition of an “enclosed indoor facility” to be a building with a “solid floor,” “rigid exterior walls” on all sides, and a roof that prevents those outside from looking in.
Shade houses and greenhouses that meet those requirements could theoretically serve as grow centers. Current law prohibits growing in greenhouses and shadehouses.
Ruderman said allowing them would let plants grow under sunlight, as they were naturally meant to. It also would cut operating costs by reducing power consumption — Hawaii has the highest electricity prices in the country.
“Medicine should not be outrageously expensive,” Ruderman said. “(And) if you don’t keep costs down, you encourage the black market to continue to exist. Right now, someone who can’t grow themselves buys it on the black market.”
House Bill 2707 also amends the dispensaries law to allow advanced practice registered nurses to certify new patients and creates a commission to oversee the dispensary program, among other changes aimed at making the program run more smoothly. The bill, now in conference, was co-signed by San Buenaventura and Mark Nakashima, D-Hamakua, Hilo.
“I think the intention all along was to make (the law) more patient-friendly and allow patients to get their medications in a much more uniform way,” Nakashima said Monday.
The state Department of Health plans to announce eight dispensary licensee selections by April 29. Those chosen can open as soon as July 15. The 16 initial dispensaries will give Hawaii’s nearly 14,000 patients a way to legally buy medical marijuana for the first time since it was legalized in 2000.
A bill that would require the DOH to conduct unannounced visits and re-licensing inspections at dispensaries is also in conference. The measure, filed as Senate Bill 2384, was co-signed by state Sen. Lorraine Inouye, D-North Hawaii.
House Bill 1829, introduced by Maui Democrat Joseph Souki, is now dead. It would have repealed penalties pertaining to certain medical marijuana prohibitions, including changing the penalty for fraudulently obtaining medical marijuana from a class C felony to a petty misdemeanor.