Hawaii’s regulators have launched a course series to teach physicians and healthcare providers about medical marijuana, as Hawaii’s cannabis program grows.
On Wednesday, the state Department of Health announced that new courses for Continuing Medical (CME) or Continuing Education are available free of charge. The classes “are designed to provide healthcare professionals with a basic understanding of the Endocannabinoid System, the largest system of signaling in the human body, as well as the clinical applications of cannabidiol and medical cannabis.”
A press release states that “Healthcare providers will gain a greater understanding of the cannabinoids’ pharmacology, therapeutic potential, and dosing strategy through these courses.” This knowledge will help improve the care of patients that are currently using cannabis, or may be able to benefit from it.
This effort is about a month old. Josh Green (D), signed a law to increase medical marijuana access to Hawaii. This bill allows a primary treating physician to prescribe cannabis to a patient for whatever condition they deem fit. Patients can also receive recommendations for medical cannabis through telehealth sessions, instead of having to meet with providers in person.
On Wednesday, state health officials stated that “a growing body” of scientific evidence shows medical marijuana’s “effectiveness for managing specific diseases.”
Cannabis is federally classified as a Schedule I controlled substances, but it’s a valuable and transformative option for those patients who don’t respond to traditional therapies.
“With more than 120,000 patients having enrolled in Hawaiʻi’s medical cannabis program since its inception and about 30,000 patients currently registered, healthcare providers will likely encounter patients using cannabis for medical purposes,” Dr. Kenneth Fink, DOH director, said. Recognizing side effects and drug interaction will improve patient safety.
This new course package is offered free of charge to the first 200 registered users. TheAnswerPage.com will charge a fee for the remaining course.
A provision in the bill to expand access to medical marijuana signed by the Governor in late June is problematic to advocates.
Conference committees revised the original plan before sending it to Green. The new version included a provision allowing doctors to provide the Department of Health with access to patient medical records for any purpose.
In the new bill, it is allowed for the Department of Health “to examine the medical records of a qualified patient held by their physician, advanced-practice registered nurse or hospice provider that issued a certification in writing.” The Department of Health could revoke the ability of providers to provide medical cannabis when they don’t follow a request from the department for patient records.
Initially advocates supported HB 302 in order to provide access to more patients who have conditions not specified by the state. Many withdrew their support when the Conference Committee made changes.
A new provision creates a Class C felony charge for the unlicensed operation a marijuana dispensary. This is a major addition to state laws already in place against the illegal distribution of cannabis.
In early June, Green himself put the cannabis measure on a list of bills he intended to veto—an indication, though not a commitment, that he was leaning towards rejecting it.
The office of the Senator wrote that, while the bill allows for medical cannabis certifications to be obtained via telehealth and thus expand access to the drug, provisions allowing the examination of medical records of patients without warrant are a serious violation of their privacy.
Green said patients may be particularly concerned that privacy protections are removed, given marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. She noted that these concerns might actually reduce enrollment in state-legal systems.
The federal government has classified cannabis as Schedule I, his office explained at the moment. “Patients’ fears about repercussions due to information gathered from their medical records could deter them from joining the medical marijuana program.”
Green signed a separate bill in May that allows medical marijuana caregivers the option to cultivate marijuana for up to 5 patients instead of just one.
In the last few months, Hawaii’s governor has signed another law that set forth a series of new hemp product rules. Distributors and retailers are required to obtain registrations from DOH.
Lawmakers also sent a bill to the governor this session that would help speed the expungement process for people hoping to clear their records of past marijuana-related offenses—a proposal Green signed into law in April.
That measure, HB 132, from Rep. David Tarnas (D), is intended to expedite expungements happening through a pilot program signed into law last year by Green. In particular, the bill will no longer distinguish between marijuana (and other Schedule V substances) and the expunction program.
Proponents of the bill said the wording currently in place forces officials of state to manually comb through thousands criminal records to find those eligible for expulsion under the program.
Hawaii’s Senate back in February narrowly defeated a separate proposal that would have increased fivefold the amount of cannabis that a person could possess without risk of criminal charges. The body voted 12–11 against the decriminalization measure, SB 319, from Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D).
The amount of marijuana that is decriminalized on Hawaii would be increased to 15 grams if the law had been passed. The possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana would be considered a civil offense punishable with a $130 fine.
The Senate’s bill to legalize marijuana for adults was stalled in the end. SB 1613 failed to pass out of the committee before a deadline.
While advocates felt there was sufficient support for the legalization proposal in the Senate, it’s widely believed that House lawmakers would have ultimately scuttled the measure, as they did last month with a legalization companion bill, HB 1246.
Last session, a Senate-passed legalization bill also fizzled out in the House.
This year’s House vote to stall the bill came just days after approval from a pair of committees at a joint hearing. The panels had received almost 300 pages of testimonies from various state agencies, advocacy groups and the general public.
This past fall, regulators solicited proposals to assess the state’s current medical marijuana program—and also sought to estimate demand for recreational sales if the state eventually moves forward with adult-use legalization. Others interpreted the move to be a signal that regulators needed to get ready for the reform.