To keep his licensed medical cannabis crop safe, Hawaii farmer Richard Ha is going beyond the security measures — surveillance cameras, an alarm system — mandated by the state. He’s hired cows. Security cows. 

“We’re not going to have armed guards,” he told his neighbors, “because we’d end up shooting ourselves.”It’s not quite what neighbors had in mind when they asked whether guards would patrol the grounds of his new grow site, one of the first to be awarded a state license. But Ha believed that armed guards would do more harm than good. 

Medical marijuana dispensaries can now legally open in Hawaii, but not one is ready to do so.

The state Department of Health said none of the state's eight dispensaries was approved to open by July 15, the first day they were allowed by law.

One big hurdle is the state hasn't certified a lab to test the dispensaries' products.

"On the dispensary front, they're all doing their best to open their doors with as diverse a product line to serve all of the many needs of the patients and all the qualifying conditions that are out there," said Chris Garth, executive director of the Hawaii Dispensary Alliance. "Until those products can be tested in a clinical capacity, no dispensary will be able to open their doors, no matter how perfect their product is."

Hawaii patients have more options to gain access to medical marijuana now that nurses can certify people for use of the drug, a change advocates say was needed because there's a shortage of doctors willing to do the certifications.

Gov. David Ige signed a bill Monday updating the state's medical marijuana dispensary law.

"It's high time that this bill came into effect," said Wailua Brandman, a psychiatric nurse practitioner. "I have patients that have been using marijuana, not legally, because they don't have the diagnosis yet ... but the medication is working for them, and they keep asking me, can they get a card?"

Hawaii’s medical marijuana dispensaries could generate between $12 million and $38 million in revenue in their first year of operations, according to the Hawaii Dispensary Alliance.

A report from the trade groups predicts those figures could grow to as much as $80.5 million by 2018. The forecast is based upon the state’s more than 14,000 registered medical marijuana patients growing to between 30,000 and 40,000 in the next two years, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

Christopher Garth, the alliance’s executive director, said the state’s economic gain from the opening of the medical pot dispensaries depends largely upon the growth of registered medical marijuana patients.

Maui’s newly selected medical marijuana dispensary, the Maui Wellness Group, LLC, received the highest ranking in the state out of the eight Hawaiʻi companies that were selected for dispensary licenses by the state Department of Health.

Maui Wellness Group which is run by Gregory Park, MD and former Maui Land & Pineapple CEO David Cole received a score of 510 points, out of the 520 maximum score.

The other Maui dispensary, Pono Life Sciences Maui, LLC run by William Mitchell and Robert Wong received a score of 471.5 points.

The Maui companies were among eight in the state that were selected for licenses out of the 66 companies that applied.

On May 5, 2016, Honolulu Civil Beat released an interview with Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, with the comedic duo discussing marijuana legalization and Donald Trump. Cheech and Chong were in Honolulu as a part of their national tour.

“We always used to say, ‘What if we’re right? What if marijuana is good for you and does you some good?'” Cheech recalled.

“And we were right,” Chong said.

In regards to businessman Donald Trump as a presidential candidate, “Donald Trump really is like an aptitude test for the American public,” Chong said.

Woody Harrelson has been reportedly denied a medical-marijuana dispensary license. 

The 54-year-old actor applied for the licence back in February in Honolulu County on behalf of his company, Simply Organic Living, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

Harrelson was among 66 Hawaii residents who applied to open the state's first medical-marijuana dispensaries. 

Applicants were required to have USD 1 million cash, plus USD 100,000 for each of their planned dispensary locations. They also must have been residents of Hawaii for more than five years. 

The eight successful licensees were announced on Friday by the Hawaii Department of Health:

City and County of Honolulu

The Hawaii Department of Health says it's having delays in the process of selecting medical marijuana dispensary owners because of an issue with background checks. The announcement comes just seven days before the department is scheduled to announce the state's first medical marijuana dispensary owners.

Each medical marijuana dispensary applicant has until Tuesday to submit fingerprints for background checks, the department said Friday.

It took longer than expected to set up the fingerprint system, said Janice Okubo, a spokesperson for the Hawaii Department of Health. "We notified the applicants as soon as we found out, and we understand that this is not the ideal situation," Okubo said.

Green Aloha Ltd., one of the consortiums applying for Kauai’s first medical marijuana dispensary license, has struck an agreement with United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 480.

Across the U.S., UFCW represents more than 1.3 million members — some of whom are part of its Cannabis Workers Rising program, working in the developing recreational and medical marijuana industries on the Mainland.

A federal court has ruled that a church for Native Americans in Hawaii should not be excused from federal marijuana laws despite the group's claim that ingesting cannabis is part of their sacred sacrament.

The Native American Church of Hawaii had asked for relief from federal marijuana laws under the U.S. Religious Freedom Restoration Act, saying they used cannabis during sweat lodge ceremonies to help people connect with their creator.