{"id":79568,"date":"2024-12-31T08:14:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T16:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/12\/31\/hawaii-governor-signs-executive-order-protecting-medical-marijuana-caregivers-who-grow-for-patients-after-lawmakers-neglect-to-extend-deadline\/"},"modified":"2025-01-01T19:46:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T03:46:04","slug":"hawaii-governor-signs-executive-order-protecting-medical-marijuana-caregivers-who-grow-for-patients-after-lawmakers-neglect-to-extend-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/12\/31\/hawaii-governor-signs-executive-order-protecting-medical-marijuana-caregivers-who-grow-for-patients-after-lawmakers-neglect-to-extend-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii Governor Signs Executive Order Protecting Medical Marijuana Caregivers Who Grow For Patients After Lawmakers Neglect To Extend Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The governor of Hawaii has signed an executive order protecting medical marijuana caregivers who are responsible for growing cannabis for patients from \u201cundue enforcement\u201d\u2014stepping up with a policy fix after lawmakers neglected to extend those protections that expire on Wednesday under current statute.<\/p>\n

While legislators have said they plan to correct the oversight in the 2025 session, Gov. Josh Green (D) said the interim executive action is necessary to ensure that patients maintain an adequate supply of medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have medical cannabis statutes to provide patients the relief each desperately needs as they navigate very serious health issues,\u201d Green said in a press release on Monday. \u201cWe must protect the patients and their caregivers when the caregivers cultivate cannabis for a patient in a manner that fits squarely within the spirit of the medical-cannabis law.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that end, the governor\u2019s executive order directs the Department of Health (DOH) not to take enforcement action against medical marijuana caregivers operating in compliance with the provisions of the law, regardless of the expiration of the protections. The order also lays out other scenarios where enforcement is appropriate, such as in cases of illegal diversion.<\/p>\n

\n

@GovJoshGreenMD<\/a> today signed an executive order to protect caregivers who provide medical cannabis to qualified patients, from undue enforcement.<\/p>\n

More: https:\/\/t.co\/zYZCYhVOxY<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Office of the Governor, State of Hawai`i (@GovHawaii) December 31, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cThe Hawai\u02bbi Department of Health strongly supports continuing to allow primary caregivers to cultivate medical cannabis for qualifying patients as needed for the patients\u2019 health,\u201d DOH Director Kenneth Fink said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The order itself says that \u201cthe expiration of the authority of a primary caregiver to cultivate cannabis for a qualifying patient may lead to negative health outcomes for qualifying patients suffering from a debilitating condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further, DOH and its Office of Medical Cannabis Control and Regulation \u201chave limited resources to investigate and enforce minor violations\u201d of the laws around caregivers.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers have recognized that they erred in neglecting to extend the caregiver protections, with House Public Safety Committee Chair Della Belatti (D) telling<\/a> HawaiiNewsNow that the \u201cfailure\u201d of the legislature brought a \u201ccrisis upon us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patients would be \u201cleft either to the black market, which we know is unregulated and untested and unsafe potentially,\u201d she said. \u201cNow the we\u2019re faced with the situation and we\u2019re going to have to deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Hawaii regulators recently solicited proposals to assess the state\u2019s current medical marijuana program<\/a>\u2014and also estimate demand for recreational cannabis sales if the state eventually moves forward with adult-use legalization.<\/p>\n

While\u00a0Hawaii\u2019s Senate approved a recreational marijuana legalization bill<\/a> in March, proposals to end prohibition have consistently stalled out in the House of Representatives before reaching the finish line. But the regulatory agency evidently sees a need to prepare to the potential reform\u2014a policy change that is supported by the governor.<\/p>\n

The request for proposals was released just weeks after the governor signed into law a bill to create a task force charged with crafting legislation that would expunge certain criminal records, likely including some past marijuana arrests and convictions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Green signed a separate bill into law, HB 1595, to\u00a0create a single-county pilot program that will expunge certain non-conviction marijuana records<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014
\nMarijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

As originally introduced, that measure from Rep. David Tarnas (D) would have directed state officials to\u00a0automatically expunge tens of thousands of arrest\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0conviction records<\/a>\u00a0for low-level marijuana possession. But the Senate Judiciary Committee later gutted the proposal,\u00a0replacing the statewide plan with a pilot program in Hawaii County<\/a>\u00a0that would apply only to non-conviction arrest records.<\/p>\n

Advocates have said the limited reform measures represent victories despite the\u00a0legislature\u2019s failure to pass a marijuana legalization bill this session<\/a>. A separate bill to expand the state\u2019s existing law decriminalizing small amounts of cannabis also failed to pass this session.<\/p>\n

Following the failure of the broader legalization push, Green said in April that he has \u201ca possible solution\u201d to the situation:\u00a0vastly expanding the Hawaii\u2019s existing medical cannabis system<\/a>\u00a0to allow people to register based on\u00a0any<\/em>\u00a0health concern rather than needing to have one of a specific list of conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would make it very available\u2014that\u2019s marijuana\u2014for those who choose it in their lives,\u201d the governor said in an interview with Hawaii News Now, \u201cand it would still keep kids safe, which has been everyone\u2019s priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Green reiterated his support for full recreational legalization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for adults who can responsibly use marijuana, it should be legal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

DEA Fails To Release Updated Marijuana Arrest And Seizure Data, Drawing Criticism From Legalization Advocates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Hawaii Governor Signs Executive Order Protecting Medical Marijuana Caregivers Who Grow For Patients After Lawmakers Neglect To Extend Deadline<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n
\nRead More: Hawaii Governor Signs Executive Order Protecting Medical Marijuana Caregivers Who Grow For Patients After Lawmakers Neglect To Extend Deadline<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The governor of Hawaii has signed an executive order protecting medical marijuana caregivers who are responsible for growing cannabis for patients from \u201cundue enforcement\u201d\u2014stepping up with a policy fix after lawmakers neglected to extend those protections that expire on Wednesday under current statute. While legislators have said they plan toContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":79569,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79568"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79568"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79570,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79568\/revisions\/79570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}