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Hawaii Social Justice Groups Gather in Support of Cannabis Legalization

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HAWAII:Hawaii social justice groups will gather on Wednesday for a news conference in support of legislation to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis. The event is being held as momentum for legalization picks up in the state. Scheduled speakers at the event include Rep. Jeanné Kapela, DeVaughn Ward of the Marijuana Policy Project, Nikos Leverenz of Drug Policy Forum Hawaii, and George Cordero of the ACLU Hawaii. The group will also be urging state lawmakers to include processes for automatic record clearance and resentencing in cannabis proposals. 

WHAT: News conference with Hawaii social justice organizations to advocate for ending the prohibition of cannabis and providing retroactive relief for the victims of cannabis prohibition

WHEN: Wednesday, January 11, 10:30 a.m. HST

WHERE: Rotunda of the Capitol, 415 S Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96813

WHO: Rep. Jeanné Kapela, 5th District

DeVaughn Ward, Marijuana Policy Project

George Cordero, ACLU of Hawai‘i

Nikos Leverenz, Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii

Gracie Johnson, Last Prisoner Project (In Absentia)

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Steep Hill Hawaii Announces ISO Certification For First Licensed Cannabis Testing Lab In Hawaii

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HAWAII: Dana Ciccone, CEO of Steep Hill Hawaii, the first state-licensed cannabis testing lab in Hawaii, announced it received ISO/IEC 17025:2005 certification by Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation Inc., an international accrediting agency recognized by governments and industry participants around the world as the standard of excellence for the operation of a quality laboratory management system.

Ciccone said in making the announcement on the achievement of the Certificate of Accreditation, “We are proud not only to be the first cannabis lab to be licensed in the State of Hawaii, but also now the first lab to achieve ISO certification, as well. Industry businesses, medical professionals, state regulators, and patients can be confident that our lab and its testing standards will operate to the highest international standards. This is a turning point for the industry – we have moved very quickly to raise the industry standards in Hawaii to internationally recognized certification. I am very proud of our scientific team’s professionalism and hard work to achieve this certification.”

Steep Hill Hawaii will run full-service testing for cannabinoid profiles (potency), terpenes, pesticides, heavy metals, biological screening, and residual solvents, testing for 17 cannabinoids and 43 terpenes. The company will test for industry businesses and in-state patient cardholders, and it has been structured to provide services to be affordable, with quick turn-around times. Steep Hill Hawaii is a locally owned and operated company.

 

Hawaii Selects BioTrackTHC For State’s Medical Marijuana Program

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HAWAII: The Hawaii Department of Health’s Office of Health Care Assurance has selected BioTrackTHC as the winner apparent for its state contract for tracking the production, transportation and sale of medical marijuana.

“The development of a healthy and successful medical cannabis program is a top priority for Hawaii, and we are extremely proud to have been chosen to be a critical part of it,” said Patrick Vo, CEO, BioTrackTHC. “The islands of Hawaii are truly unique and we very much look forward to applying our expertise in solving the cannabis traceability challenges unique to Hawaii.”

BioTrackTHC’s government software solution will provide the Hawaii Department of Health real-time visibility into the seed-to-sale tracking data of every licensed medical marijuana dispensary in the state, including plant and inventory quantities, production activity, laboratory testing results, transportation activity, and dispensing activity.

This marks the fifth cannabis-related government contract won by the company. BioTrackTHC‘s seed-to-sale Traceability System for government agencies is currently being utilized by the states of Washington, New Mexico, and Illinois, and is in the process of implementation by New York. The company’s Enterprise System for businesses is used in more than 1,500 medical and recreational cannabis facilities in 23 states, Washington D.C., Canada, Jamaica and South America. These technologies enable government agencies and businesses to track every plant and every fraction-of-a-gram of cannabis throughout the production lifecycle—cultivation, harvest and cure, quality assurance testing, transportation, destruction, and sale—bringing transparency, accountability, and meaningful insights to cannabis operations.

The Hawaii Department of Health’s Office of Health Care Assurance issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in November of last year and posted a Notice of Award naming BioTrackTHC on December 28, 2015.

Medical Marijuana Dispensary Bill Passes Hawaii Legislature

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HAWAII:  Members of the Hawaii Legislature approved a bill Thursday that would establish a system of medical marijuana dispensaries statewide by next summer.

Hawaii legalized medical marijuana 15 years ago, but has never provided a way to buy it legally. Patients must grow their own or have a caretaker grow it for them.

House Bill 321 would allow eight companies to open two marijuana dispensaries each as soon as July 15, 2016.

The bill passed the Senate unanimously with Sen. Russell Ruderman excused. House lawmakers approved the bill 38-13 after more than a half-hour of discussion. The measure goes next to Gov. David Ige, who has indicated he supports the medical marijuana dispensaries.

Marijuana Registries Go Digital in Maine, Hawaii

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MAINE:  Filing cabinets, gray cubicles and three-ring binders of department policy conjure an image of state government that disguises a more pregnant message. A reflection of the times can be found in heaps of bureaucratic paperwork, and in 2015, there is a clear image of an American population that enjoys getting high on marijuana.

Twenty-three states and the nation’s capital have legalized the drug for either medical or recreational use, and as resistance to usage weakens in the wake of 1970s court hearings examining the substance’s decriminalization, governments find themselves in need of computer systems that support a function with relatively little historical backing.

Both Hawaii and Maine, two states separated by thousands of geographic miles, have for years allowed marijuana for medical use, and last year recognized a need for better systems to keep track of medical marijuana registrants. Through partnerships with NIC, both states developed new systems that launched earlier this year.

Russell Castagnaro, president of eHawaii.gov, explained that the system was developed as part of a broader organizational change that transferred the state’s medical marijuana registry from the watch of the Department of Public Safety to the Department of Public Health. The governance of medical marijuana may have once been considered a matter of keeping the public safe, but in 2015, public health is the more salient issue.

 

Civil Cafe: Marijuana Debate Heats Up in Hawaii

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HAWAII:  What’s next for marijuana in Hawaii?

Medical marijuana dispensaries? Decriminalization? Outright legalization?

All three possibilities are currently being considered by the Legislature, where 29 marijuana-related bills are in the works.

Marijuana was the subject Thursday night at a Civil Cafe featuring a panel that included state Sen. Will Espero, Alan Shinn of Drug Free Hawaii, Wendy Gibson of Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii and Capt. Jason Kawabata, executive officer for HPD’s Narcotics/Vice Division.

About 40 people crowded into the Fresh Cafe in Kakaako to hear the discussion and ask questions of the panel during the event moderated by Chad Blair of Civil Beat.

 

In Hawaii: Medical Marijuana For Sale

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HAWAII:  Nearly 14 years after the use of medical marijuana was legalized in Hawaii, medical marijuana patients may have a legal way to purchase it, rather than just grow it themselves, within the next few years.

The 21-member group tasked with crafting guidelines for a state-monitored medical marijuana dispensary system is recommending that at least one dispensary be opened in four of the state’s five counties by the start of 2017.

Members of the Hawaii Medical Marijuana Dispensary Task Force, which was created during the last legislative session and convened shortly afterward, also agreed that state Department of Health officials should offer at least 30 licenses for medical marijuana producers beginning on June 1, 2016.

“I think it’s a very good start for guidelines for legislation, but the legislative process will lead to compromises and discussions,” said Rep. Della Au Belatti, D, Makiki-Manoa, who sat on the task force and chairs the state House Health Committee.

Medical Marijuana Task Force Recommends Dispensaries In Hawaii

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HAWAII:  Hawaii’s medical marijuana laws have created a kind of Catch-22 for patients. They can use it legally, but they can’t buy it legally.

That could soon change.

The Medical Marijuana Dispensary Task Force has finished its work and recommended that the state establish dispensaries to make it easier for patients with certain conditions like cancer, glaucoma and HIV, among others, to get the drug legally.

In the District of Columbia, Guam and 22 other states, marijuana is allowed for medical use. In most of those states, there is a dispensary where you can buy pot.

 

Hawaii Legislature Approves Two-Year Study of Hemp

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HAWAII:  State lawmakers as we speak accredited a toned-down bill authorizing the College of Hawaii’s school of agriculture to conduct a two-yr research of hemp.

Senate Invoice 2175 stated the analysis will concentrate on the potential use of hemp as a biofuel feedstock and to be used in phytoremediation, the use of crops to take away contaminants from soil.

The motion was made attainable by the passage earlier this yr of the federal Agriculture Act of 2014, which authorizes states and universities to legally conduct hemp analysis.

In accordance with the bill, the plant inventory for use within the research have to be licensed by the state Division of Agriculture as industrial hemp, versus marijuana, its psychoactive cousin.

Smoke Signal? Hawaii Senate Panel Approves Decriminalizing Marijuana

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HAWAII: Is it a good thing or a bad thing that Cheech and Chong are paying attention to the Hawaii Legislature?

Posted on the pot-toking comedy duo’s official website this week was an alert that two Hawaii state Senate committees were preparing to hear a pair of bills that could “bring needed sensibility to Hawaii’s marijuana laws.”

Cheech and Chong (or whoever maintains the website) offered tips and talking points to their followers for submitting testimony.

It’s not completely out of the ordinary for Cheech and Chong to be tracking pro-marijuana bills here. Chong has longtime island ties. [Read more…]