The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) has posted interim administrative rules for the medical marijuana dispensary licensing program. View them online here.

The interim rules are effective immediately and will remain in effect until July 1, 2018, or until rules are adopted pursuant to Chapter 91 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS).

I received the following press release:

Big Island man Mike Ruggles launched a crowdfunding campaign this week to help pay for legal fees after being arrested for opening Hawaii’s first medical marijuana collective. Ruggles says this is an opportunity to help set legal precedence to establish medical marijuana collectives in Hawaii.

During the Hawai’i State Bar Association Convention on Oct. 23, Commissioner of Financial Institutions Iris Ikeda presented considerations for banks and other financial institutions when dealing with marijuana-related businesses.

Medical marijuana dispensaries could begin to do business as early as July 2016, but before then, banks and financial institutions should prepare.

Hawaii’s first system of medical marijuana dispensaries are slated to open next summer, but certain rules adopted this past July are already in effect for current patients and caregivers.

Medical marijuana has been legal in the Islands since 2000.

The patient registry program was transferred earlier this year from the Hawaii Department of Public Safety to the Department of Health.

The health department’s new administrative rules were adopted July 18.

The rules include the mandate of tagging marijuana plants, mandatory possession of registration cards, and additions to the list of medical conditions that make a patient eligible to use cannabis as a medication.

Alaska

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Alaska include:

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
• Nausea
• Muscle spasms
• Multiple sclerosis
• Pain
• Seizures

For a complete list of qualifying conditions and guidelines, please refer to Alaska’s application for medical marijuana registry

Arizona

Qualifying conditions to become a medical marijuana patient in Arizona include:

Anyone who has ever started a medical marijuana business knows that there’s a lot to it. It’s much more than simply paying for a business license, renting a place, and opening for business. There are more things involved with starting a medical marijuana business than most other businesses. What are the local regulations, if any? What are the state regulations? What changes to those regulations are likely to occur in the future? What things need to happen to be in compliance with those regulations (potentially for the time being!). Did I mention the usual legal issues that go into a business, such as intellectual property rights, operating agreements, etc.?

HONOLULU — Twenty minutes from the turquoise waves of White Plains Beach, Teri Heede’s garden stretches out from her Kapolei home where three marijuana plants are firmly potted in the backyard and a steep drop gives way to a view of deep blue water and mountains touching clouds. One of Hawaii’s many medical marijuana patients, Heede’s plants didn’t always produce enough for her medicinal needs, so she bought pot illegally from a dealer behind the local McDonald’s.

Michael Irish is a longtime Oahu businessman best known as CEO of Diamond Head Seafood Wholesale and Keoki’s Lau Lau.

But next year, he may be involved in a different industry — growing marijuana and selling it at Hawaii’s newly legalized medical cannabis dispensaries.

Three weeks ago, the owner of nine kim chi and four sauce companies registered a new limited liability company, Hawaiian Isles Marijuana, with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

The process to determine Hawaii’s first medical marijuana dispensary license holders will likely be based on a point scale, state officials said Wednesday.

But just how transparent the application process will be has yet to be determined.

Medical marijuana has been legal in the Islands for 15 years, but this year’s Act 241 sets up guidelines for the first retail system of up to 16 dispensaries statewide.