VAIL — Hawaii — where you can drop seeds on the sidewalk and they’ll grow legalized retail marijuana.

Rep. Della Au Belatti’s (D-Hawaii) bill passed in waning moments of this year’s Hawaii state Legislature allows eight retail marijuana shops in the entire state.

A dozen or so Hawaiian lawmakers were among 350 state legislators in Vail this week for the Council of State Governments West annual convention.

Along with everything else, they managed to squeeze in a field trip to Eagle County’s Green Mile, touring pot shops in Eagle-Vail.

Hawaii is starting small and they’ll see what happens.

“I admire the way Hawaii is baby-stepping into this,” said Bryan Treu, Eagle County attorney.

Hawaiian patients will now have easier access to medical marijuana thanks to a new law Gov. David Ige signed.  

Act 241, formerly House Bill 321 Relating to Medical Marijuana until its July 15 signing, prohibits zoning regulations that discriminate against licensed dispensaries and production centers and allows qualifying patients, caregivers and employees to transport medical marijuana in any public place. The bill also authorizes background checks for caregivers and patients. 

The island state of Hawaii, also known as the Paradise State, just got one step closer to that goal this month. On July 15, 2015, Gov. David Ige signed HB 321, a bill authorizing the use of medical marijuana, into state law.

WAIMANALO, OAHU -

"It's crazy.  It's crazy fast".  That's how Dr. Harry Ako, the lead researcher on UH Manoa’s industrial hemp project, describes how well one of the varieties has taken to the local environment.

Just days after Governor Ige signed a bill to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in Hawaii, dozens of businesses are setting up shop at the Hawaii Cannabis Expo in the Hawaii Convention Center.

The three-day event got underway Friday night with a panel discussion involving state lawmakers, attorneys and even pot growers, among others.

With more than a thousand medical marijuana registration cars already being issued each month in Hawaii, an entirely new and large wave of business opportunities is also coming up.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -

Hawaii's medical marijuana law doesn't automatically protect a patient whose results come up positive during random drug testing by their employer.  
"If they have a zero-tolerance policy for drug use they can still fire you," Rep. Karl Rhoads said.

Rhoads chairs the House Judiciary Committee. He said under state law medical marijuana users have no workplace protection, plus the federal government considers cannabis a Schedule 1 narcotic.
 
"There's going to continue to be tension between states that have at least partially legalized pakalolo and the federal government. And this is an area where it crops up very prominently," he said.

Fifteen years after Hawaii legalized medical marijuana, the state plans to begin licensing pot dispensaries.

Until now, Hawaii’s 13,000 qualified patients had to grow their own marijuana or buy it on the black market.

Gov. David Ige signed the measure Tuesday, along with an accompanying bill that bans discrimination against medical marijuana patients. Both laws went into effect Wednesday, but it will take months for the state to draft rules to implement the licensing law.

“The bill sets a timeline,” Ige in a statement. “We will make a good-faith effort to create a fair process that will help the people most in need.”

A bill to establish Hawaii’s first medical marijuana dispensary system became offical at midnight Tuesday, without Gov. David Ige’s signature.

The Hawaii state Department of Health has until Jan. 4 to finalize rules and regulations for the new system — a deadline that the governor has called "aggressive."

A highly competitive merit-based application process will commence in January, and only eight applicants will be awarded licenses. Each license holder will be allowed two dispensaries.

While the new law does not specify what the cost of medical marijuana will be in Hawaii, experts predict it to run from $200 to $300 an ounce.

A bill to establish Hawaii’s first medical marijuana dispensary system will become law at midnight Tuesday, with or without Gov.