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Hawaii Cannabis and Marijuana License
If you live in Hawaii and want to use cannabis for medical purposes, learn some details. Or you might want to cultivate weed plants. Hawaii cannabis and marijuana license guide will help you to navigate.
The nonresident patients should also learn the rules. It will help to escape problems with the state police.
How to get a Hawaii cannabis and marijuana license
You can’t apply to any institution to get a license. The use of weed is illegal except in several cases.
In 2019 the State accepted bill HB 1383 that allows the possession of up to 3 grams of cannabis. It will not lead to any criminal effects, with only a $130 penalty. Possessing more than that of threatens 30-day custody and a $1000 fine.
It is worth mentioning that the State allows the use of cannabis in private. That means the patient will smoke cannabis for health benefits only in private areas. Those areas do not suppose smoke-free locations.
When did Hawaii legalize the use of cannabis and weed?
Hawaii is the first US state to legalize the use of cannabis for health purposes. In 2000 it accepted Act 220 which revised Chapter 329 about cannabis and marijuana usage. The amended legislation allowed to set provisions for weed use and cultivation. Thus, it protected registered caretakers, recommending physicians and patients from prosecution.
The new law revisions allowed Health Department (DOH) to manage cannabis license provisions. In 2018 it was permitted to give dispensary licenses, expanding qualifying conditions.
How to get a Hawaii cannabis and marijuana license
The Hawaii Department of health is to approve the use of cannabis for any purpose. The entities who want to get permission should have health conditions. They should have valid medical marijuana cards to consume it legally. The out-of-state patients should have a similar medical card issued by their home jurisdiction. Non-registered people who use cannabis for personal intentions are not protected.
For legal weed usage, register with the Medical Cannabis Patient registry program. The registry program states you match the health conditions for cannabis use. After the successful completion of registration, you get card 329. It allows the patients and their caregivers to grow, use, convey and own cannabis legally. They may also buy if from the specialized dispensaries certified by DOH.
To register and create an account at the DOH website instate patients need to provide:
- Proof from a licensed physician or an advanced nurse practitioner. They should state your health conditions will approve after medical cannabis use.
- A certificate with one or more diseases suitable for cannabis use.
- Valid driver’s license, US passport, ID.
- Out-of-state patients should have.
- Written permit to have one or two diseases that match with the criteria.
- Valid medical cannabis registration card issued by their home jurisdiction.
- Valid driver’s license and State ID issued from their home country.
Qualifying conditions
To be able to use cannabis for medical purposes you should have one or two of the given diseases
- Frailty sclerosis
- Cancer
- Glaucoma
- Lupus
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
- Cachexia, or wasting syndrome
- Epilepsy
- Muscle spasms, including those tendencies of Frailty or Crohn’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Severe pain
- HIV/AIDS
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Severe nausea
- Seizures
Hawaii cannabis and marijuana license. How to check 329 card status?
After submitting the documents for the online application, you can check your status. If it is ”unfinished”, complete it by clicking finish.
The status ”submitted to DOH” means it has received your application. Soon the department will review it in the order received. Whether you see the status ”submitted to doctor/APRN,”, you can guess. The request has been directed to your licensed doctor.
A status ”waiting for physician/APRN” tells your application is incomplete. Thus, they returned it to you or your certifying doctor/APRN.
Congrats, if you see the ”waiting for activation” note. This means the DOH approved your 329 cards. Finally, you can find registration information about a 329 card in the “registration” section.
Generally, the process of getting a 329 card takes 2 to 4 weeks or less. The application fee for both resident and non-resident patients costs the same.
It is $38,50 for a one-year renewal and $77 for a two-year renewal
Hawaii cannabis and marijuana license reciprocity
The start of marijuana reciprocity program was given on July 10, 2018. The bill HB 2729 entered into force. It legalized the use of weed for nonresidents within the state.
The nonresident patients should provide state medical card issued by their hime juristisdiction. However, the available medical card is not the only requirement to match. Patients should prove they sufffer from one or two of the diseases included in the qualifying conditions. Registered entities may but and possess ver 4 ounces of cannabis. Their medical card is valid in Hawaii for 60 days since the issue date.
Where can I find cannabis in Hawai?
You can buy medical cannabis from state-approved dispensaries. They are in Kauai, Molokai, Hawaii, Oahu, and Maui islands. Take note you must have a valid state ID, a 329 card, and a driver’s license to buy cannabis. The shipping of cannabis between islands is illegal. Patients and caregivers cannot buy more than 113 grams of cannabis within 15 days. While transporting cannabis, patients and caregivers should keep it in closed canisters.
How to get a cannabis grower’s license
If you are a registered patient or a caregiver, you can grow not over 10 plants. Yet, the DOH requires that you prove your intentions related to cannabis cultivation. The plants must be all in one area, tagged by a 329 card. Thus, they must grow at the patient’s or the caregiver’s home or another plot managed by them.
. Yet, since January 1, 2024, home cultivation will suppose criminal punishment. The exception will make the island lacking any dispensary. Also, minors and adults who are unable to grow for themselves.
The infants unable to get cannabis for themselves can sign a caregiver. The caregiver must be a Hawaii resident and be at least 18 years old.
Who gives cannabis dispensary licenses in Hawaii?
You can get a medical cannabis license by applying to a dispensary licensing program. The DOH regulates the licensures and the processes related to cannabis cultivation. It includes lab-quality exams, the monitoring of cannabis production, and dispensaries. Thus, the DOH controls who will grow, manufacture and trade the products.
The procedure of dispensary license provisions is complex and time-consuming. The reason is clean. Measures taken are to provide a safe environment for medical cannabis users. The DOH cares that the patients get medical cannabis from qualified facilities.
Another issue is the provision of people’s safety. We shouldn’t forget that for major cases the use of weed is illegal in Hawaii. So, the dispensaries should distribute medical weed among registered patients only. The US Department of justice states that the distribution of cannabis outside its dispensary program is liable.
So if the state cannot follow the law regulations, the entire program would be at risk.
Another issue for the strict regulations of dispensary license is the product safety. Testing labs study the compounds of the product. The procedure is to determine the efficiency of the compounds. It also reveals if the products contain pollutants.
Testing of product efficiency is a key step. It prevents from deteriorating the patient’s health state.
How to apply for a dispensary license in Hawaii
Adults under 21 and older may apply for a dispensary license. They should have a clean criminal background and meet other demands of the department.
IF you want to set up a dispensary and operate medical cannabis business, complete an online form. Apart from the application, you should have a non-refundable application fee of $5000.
Take note that the application fee is not enough for dispensary qualification.
You should bring a proof that have resources in the amount of $1000000 at your disposal.. Extra 100000$ for each retail dispensary is mandatory. So if you have decided to have two retail dispensaries, keep in mind to have 1200000$ at the moment of application.
One license is acceptable for more than one dispensary. Thus, if you want to open several branches of your company, having one license is legal.
A clarifying point in which form weed can be sold. A dispensary can sell weed in capsules, pills. Manufactured cannabis in skin products, oil extracts, ice creams, gels, tinctures is also possible.
Dispensaries have no adequacy to advertise their products. Yet, they may have a website with contact information about their retail dispensing locations. The website may also provide information about the products it sells. The details might be on the labels and products they sail which are not found as ads.
Cannabis license renewal
Patients may renew licenses for two years in several cases. If a two-year renewal is profitable for the patient. The certifying physician/APRN should approve this.
If the patient’s health condition is persistent and the physician approves the fact. The patients who have a registry account will receive a renewal note by email.
Take note that the new registry 329 card becomes valid after the previous one expires. Thus, use the old registry card entering into the dispensary until it expires.
Please, start the registration of the new 329 card 60 days before your current card expires. It will help you to avoid any failures in your registration.
