MEDICAL MARIJUANA GETS ANOTHER LOOK

Lawmakers Say They'll Reintroduce Legislation to Tighten Gaps in Law

Despite Gov. Linda Lingle's veto of a measure that would have
tightened gaps in Hawai'i's medical marijuana laws, state lawmakers
vowed yesterday to reintroduce legislation in the upcoming 2009 session.

"We had this bill to address problems with our law," said Rep. Joe
Bertram III, D-11th (Makena, Wailea, Kihei). "Our state law is so
vague that patients don't know how to get medical cannabis for legitimate use."

Lingle's veto of the bill last month left muddy issues that a task
force would have aired: legal distribution, transportation and how
federal and state laws interact, Bertram said.

Bertram and Rep. John Mizuno, D-30th (Kamehameha Heights, Kalihi
Valley, Fort Shafter), yesterday invited law enforcement officials,
physicians, a law professor and members of the Drug Policy Forum of
Hawai'i to air their concerns that will be melded into bills for the
upcoming legislative session that will begin in January.

To be effective, a state law must remove criminal penalties for
patients using or possessing medical marijuana, Bertram said.

Patients and primary caregivers on an approved list are exempt from
state law prohibiting marijuana possession, but not federal law.

Hawai'i is one of 12 states that have laws allowing qualified
patients to use marijuana. Today more than 4,000 patients are
registered with the state Narcotics Enforcement Division and are
allowed to legally grow and use the drug.

Hawai'i was the first state to allow medical use of marijuana by a
law enacted in 2000.

The law, as written, allows patients to have three mature plants,
four immature plants and up to 3 ounces of marijuana to be used to
treat debilitating medical conditions such as cancer, glaucoma,
HIV/AIDS and chronic back or neck pain.

But the law doesn't address enforcement issues or distribution.

Iggy, a medical marijuana user who didn't want his last name used for
fear of retribution, is a qualified, registered patient, but he has
still had his plants removed by police at least twice, he said. Each
time, he's gone to the Police Department with his lawyer and his
certificate to get his plants back.

"We need the laws revised so we can grow and transport medical
marijuana," Iggy said. "Perhaps the solution is to establish a
cooperative grower to hold adequate supplies of medical marijuana."

In the meantime, Mizuno asked government officials yesterday whether
any lawsuits have been filed after the state Department of Public
Safety erroneously released the names and addresses of the 4,000
patients listed with the Narcotics Enforcement Division to a Hilo newspaper.

Iggy was one of those people whose name was listed.

"It was a complete breach of my privacy," said Iggy, who came from
Maui to attend the informal hearing. "My medical situation is private."

Bertram said a task force could have ironed out all of these issues.

"The task force was an opportunity to work together and get the
information out," said Jeanne Ohta, executive director of the Drug
Policy Forum of Hawai'i, a nonprofit organization specializing in drug policy.