Hawaii Legislature passes bill to allow for edible medical marijuana

Urge Gov. Ige to sign the bill into law!

I have some exciting news to share with you! Last week, the Hawaii State Legislature approved a bill — HB 2097 — that will allow cannabis-infused edible products to be dispensed by the state’s eight medical cannabis licensees. It will also allow publicity for educational, scientific events and information and will allow for remediation of cannabis flower in certain cases under the oversight of the state Department of Health (DOH), in limited cases.

The bill now moves to the desk of Gov. David Ige, who has 45 calendar days to approve or reject the measure. If he does nothing, it will become law without his signature.

In light of COVID, patients are increasingly opting for edible forms of marijuana over smoking. Additionally, edible products are often times the preferred method for a number of conditions treated by medical marijuana. While patients can already produce medical cannabis at home, commercial production gives another option and allows for far better control of dosage.

Please urge Gov. Ige to sign HB 2097 into law.

In 2017, Hawaii’s first dispensaries began serving patients, two years after the state’s dispensary law passed and 17 years after Hawaii became the first state to legislatively enact a medical marijuana law. Edible products were excluded when dispensaries first opened in 2017 due to concerns around their potential appeal to minors. With this measure, Hawaii would join 32 of 33 medical marijuana states in allowing patients access to edible forms of medical marijuana.

Please contact Gov. Ige to express support for this important bill and spread the word to others.

Mahalo for your continued support.