LEGAL USE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA BEGINS DEC. 28

Medical marijuana can be legally used beginning Dec. 28, state officials
announced today.

Gov. Ben Cayetano approved administrative rules regarding the use of
medical marijuana yesterday.

Patients who want to use marijuana to treat or alleviate pain must get an
annual written certificate approved by their physician in order to legally
use the drug.

State Public Safety director Ted Sakai said the department will make
application forms for patient certificates available to physicians
beginning today.

Cayetano signed the medical marijuana law in June. The state held a
November public hearing to come up with rules dealing with the medical use
of marijuana.

The provisions include a:

Yearly $25 fee by patients for the written certificate issued by the
physician, who must be licensed to practice in Hawai'i and authorized to
handle controlled substances.

Requirement that the marijuana user or a caregiver be allowed to raise only
seven marijuana plants for medical use. The law will not allow people to
raise marijuana in abundance to operate as a distribution business for
medical patients.

Requirement that physicians notify the state if they determine that a
patient's condition no longer warrants the medical use of marijuana.

Sakai said the rules do not require physicians to ensure the patient does
not exceed the amount of marijuana allowed by law. "It is the patient's
responsibility, not the physician's, to comply with this provision of the
law," Sakai said.

Physicians who are interested in obtaining these forms, or who have
questions regarding the certification process, can call the state Narcotics
Enforcement Division at 594-0150.