Medi-Pot Dispensary Bill Moves on to Full House
Several medical marijuana and decriminalization bills remain alive in the Hawaii Legislature, but outright legalization bills didn’t make it.
MARCH 3, 2015·By MARINA RIKER
A bill that would create a statewide medical marijuana dispensary in Hawaii is moving on to the full House of Representatives.
House Bill 321 passed through the Committee on Finance on Tuesday. It calls for dispensaries and production centers on every island. A similar dispensary measure, Senate Bill 1302, is still being considered by the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection .
Dozens of people crammed into a small room at the Capitol on Friday to have their final say on HB 321, but the House committee waited to make its decision until Tuesday.
During Civil Beat’s recent Civil Cafe, Sen. Will Espero said he was “99.99 percent” sure that a dispensary system would be enacted this legislative session.
The proposed legislation is the first major attempt to provide patients access to medical marijuana since the state legalized it in 2000. Hawaii was one of the first states to take that step, but has since fallen behind much of the rest of the country when it comes to making medical marijuana available to patients.