OREGON OFFERS HELP ON MARIJUANA RULES

As Hawai'i starts to implement its medical marijuana program, it can look to
the Pacific Northwest for clues as to how successful, or financially
feasible, the initiative will be.

What's next

The state Division of Narcotics Enforcement will hold an administrative
hearing to review Hawai'i's proposed medical marijuana procedures on
Wednesday from 8:30 to noon in the State Capitol's basement auditorium.

The proposed rules can be obtained by calling 587-1414, faxing a request to
587-1244 or picking up the rules at the Department of Public Safety from
7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Hawai'i's program is modeled after Oregon's, and medical marijuana advocates
there say that although the experience has been positive for the 1,200
patients who have registered, the operation quickly fell $20,000 in the hole
in when it began two years ago, only recently breaking even.

Oregon charges $150 annually to register for medical marijuana. That's six
times more than the $25 Hawai`i's program will charge.

"I hope the people in Hawai`i have other funds because $25 is going to be
very difficult to run a program on," said Kelly Paige, medical marijuana
program manager for the Oregon Health Division.

Paige is in the Islands this week courtesy of the Drug Policy Forum of
Hawai' i, giving officials, medical practitioners and medical marijuana
patients a chance to go beyond the law and talk about the way the program
actually will work.

Paige brought samples of registration forms and Oregon's registration data
base for Hawai'i's narcotics enforcement division, which is in charge of the
Hawai'i program.

On Wednesday, Paige will testify as part of the public hearing to discuss
the rules that will put the program into effect, perhaps as soon as the end
of December.

Link swat.state.hi.us/VRC.htm (once there, see Title 23-PSD)

It's too early for Hawai'i administrators to know whether patients' $25fee
will cover the costs of the program, which is intended to be
self-sufficient, said Ted Sakai, director of the Hawai'i Department of
Public Safety, which will oversee medical marijuana registration.

The fee is designed to cover the administrative costs of overseeing the
program, such as processing applications and monitoring compliance.

The Hawai'i registration is good for as long as the patients' doctors saythe
marijuana is needed. And Hawai'i officials don't know how many patients to
expect.

"Right now, it's premature to determine whether $25 is enough," Sakai said.
"We don't know what our costs are going to be. We have to gain some
experience before we ask the Legislature for any kind of adjustments."

Taxpayers don't want to pay

Like Hawai'i, Oregon's medical marijuana program was always intended to be
self-sufficient, Paige said. The general feeling was that taxpayers didn't
want to subsidize medical marijuana, she said.

Instead, the $150 annual fee has turned out to be costly for some patients,
said Amy Klare, a legislative lobbyist and member of Oregonians for Medical
Rights, the group that fought for medical marijuana.

"I don't think most folks thought it would turn out to be $150," Klare said.
"But they wanted the program to be self-funding."

There isn't much difference between Oregon's law and Hawai'i's. The critical
differences are in how the programs will be run, Paige said.

Oregon patients register through the health department. In Hawai'i, patients
would go through the state's narcotics enforcement division, which could
cause concerns over confidentiality and fears of being arrested, Paige said.

"I'm sure everyone's nice," she said. "But patients are nervous about
registering with government agencies for marijuana under any circumstances,
let alone with a state police force."

Klare called it "the fear factor. We don't want people to fear law
enforcement just because they're trying to get their medicine."

Hawai'i law allows patients to use marijuana if a doctor certifies they have
a "debilitating medical condition" such as cancer, glaucoma or AIDS or for a
medical condition that causes pain, nausea or other problems.

Patients and their caregivers must register and can have no more than three
mature marijuana plants, four immature plants and one ounce of usable
marijuana per mature plant.

Delay is painful for many

Hawai'i became the eighth state to legalize medical marijuana and the first
to approve it by legislation instead of voter initiative. Gov. Ben Cayetano
signed it into law in June.

Since then, patients in Hawai'i have complained about the delay in getting
the program running.

Some have tried to use their own registration forms, based on programs like
Oregon's, only to have them rejected by state narcotics officials. Illegal
huis also have formed and have been supplying medical marijuana.

Paige said Hawai'i isn't moving any slower than Oregon did.

It took her six months to get Oregon's program in place -- six months of
hearings on the rules, setting up databases and writing the registration
forms.

Like Oregon, she said, Hawai'i officials also need to be careful in writing
the rules because possession of marijuana remains a federal offense.

"It's not rocket science," Paige said. "But it's a big program to get going
all at once."