HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i State Department of Health (DOH) has approved a second medical cannabis retail facility for O‘ahu licensee Aloha Green Apothecary.
The facility, located at 2113 Kalakaua Avenue, Unit 103, in Waikīkī, passed its final onsite inspection today.
There are now 12 licensed retail medical cannabis dispensary locations operating throughout the state: five on O‘ahu, one on Kaua‘i, two on Maui and four on Hawai‘i Island. Aloha Green opened O‘ahu’s first medical cannabis license retail center in August 2017.
“Aloha Green’s Waikīkī dispensary will help make cannabis for medical use more accessible to registered patients living in Hawai‘i as well as registered patients visiting the islands,” said Michele Nakata, supervisor of DOH’s Medical Cannabis Dispensary Licensing Program. “Since the start of our online visitor registration process, we have approved more than 1,000 out-ofstate applications for patients traveling to Hawai‘i, and we anticipate this number to continue growing in the future.”
There are more than 26,700 patients and over 2,100 caregivers registered statewide. More than 40 percent of these patients and 50 percent of the caregivers reside on O‘ahu. As of July 31, 2019, there were approximately 11,414 registered patients and 1,086 caregivers on O‘ahu. The primary qualifying medical condition reported for adult registered patients in Hawai‘i is severe pain. The primary reported condition for children under 18 years of age is seizures. Since out-of-state patients could begin registering for temporary medical cannabis use in Hawai‘i in March 2019, there have been more than 1,000 applicants from 25 states and the District of Columbia approved.
To ensure the highest standards of quality and care, dispensaries are required to comply with all state and county health and safety regulations and are subject to unlimited unannounced DOH inspections. Each licensed dispensary is an independent business and operates based on their individual business plans. Other licensed retail centers operating on O‘ahu include:
• Aloha Green, in the Interstate Building at 1314 South King St. in Honolulu, which received its notice to proceed on Aug. 9, 2017;
• Noa Botanicals, located at 1308 Young St. in Honolulu, which received its notice to proceed on Oct. 9, 2017;
• Cure Oahu, located at 727 Kapahulu Ave. in Honolulu, which received its notice to proceed on March 16, 2018;
• Noa Botanicals, located at 46-28 Kawa St. in Kaneohe, which received its notice to proceed on Feb. 14, 2019.
Registered patients should use medical cannabis with caution and consult their health care provider on proper dosages. Although medical cannabis is legal, driving under the influence of cannabis is illegal. All use of medical cannabis must be on private property. Do not use cannabis in the car while on the road, at work, at school or on school grounds, at the beach, at a park, on hiking trails, on a bus, or in any other public space. Laws that do not allow smoking or vaping in certain areas apply to the use of medical cannabis.
Although cannabis can be used as medicine, it has the potential to be addicting. Medicine should be secured and kept away from children at all times. If someone ingests too much cannabis, call the Poison Help Line at 1 (800) 222-1222. Plants in a personal grow site should be secure, not visible by neighbors, and not accessible by children. When leaving home, medical cannabis must be in a sealed container and not visible to the public. Patients are not protected when traveling with medical cannabis interisland, between states, or in other countries. More information on the Medical Cannabis Program is available at http://health.hawaii.gov/medicalcannabis/.