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Hawaii governor protects medical marijuana caregivers with executive order

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Caregivers in Hawaii who provide medical marijuana access to qualified patients will be protected under an executive order signed by the governor.

The executive order that went into effect Wednesday is intended to act as a bridge after the existing caregiver program expired on Dec. 31.

According to a news release, Gov. Josh Green signed the executive order to prevent “negative health outcomes” associated with the caregiver program’s expiration.

“We have medical cannabis statutes to provide patients the relief each desperately needs as they navigate very serious health issues,” Green, a physician, said in a statement.

“We 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.”

Hawaii caregiver program

Patients registered in Hawaii’s medical marijuana program must specify which cannabis cultivator they are working with.

As the deadline to extend the caregiver program neared without legislative action, patients worried they would not have access to their preferred source of treatment, prompting some to remove their primary caregiver from state records, according to Hawaii News Now.

Meanwhile, some caregivers stopped supplying patients, fearing the practice was about to become illegal.

In announcing the emergency order, Green urged state lawmakers “to ensure that primary caregivers can continue to provide services to those patients who are in the greatest need.”

One caregiver per patient

As of Nov. 30, more than 2,600 caregivers were registered through Hawaii’s Medical Cannabis Registry Program, which reported that 30,035 patients had valid medical marijuana registrations.

In most cases, primary caregivers are authorized to cultivate up to 10 cannabis plants for a single qualifying patient and have 4 ounces of usable marijuana at a time.

The executive order states that “a primary caregiver acting in accordance with the law in effect prior to January 1, 2025, is not committing a significant violation.”

The order directs the Department of Health and Office of Medical Cannabis Control and Regulation to instead focus its resources to combat:

  • Cannabis diversion from the state-regulated MMJ program.
  • Primary caregivers acting as commercial operators.
  • Primary caregivers cultivating cannabis for more than one patient.
  • Cannabis cultivation at a facility used by more than five qualifying patients.

Hawaii House kills recreational marijuana bill again

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Efforts to legalize recreational marijuana and establish a retail program in Hawaii have been thwarted again by the Legislature’s more conservative House of Representatives.

House Bill 1246, which would have established a regulatory agency to oversee adult-use and medical marijuana as well as hemp, failed to advance to a full floor vote, according to the Honolulu Civic Beat.

In 2024, after Hawaii’s Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill to establish a recreational market, new regulatory agency and social equity program, the legislation failed to get through the House, where similar efforts have died in the past.

“It’s a disappointment, but we will eventually get there,” Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for Marijuana Policy Project, told MJBizDaily.

“We’ve had lots of setbacks in other states’ legislatures (including a 2022 veto in Delaware) before passing bills into law.”

O’Keefe was in Hawaii trying to rally support for adult-use legalization and broader medical access.

A Senate companion bill is technically alive, with a looming deadline next week to get out of committee, O’Keefe added.

Other cannabis-related bills have been introduced in the Hawaii Legislature, including expanding medical marijuana access and decriminalization.