cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Rules Set Medical Marijuana Rules Set Posted by FoM on December 20, 2000 at 22:18:40 PT By Scott Ishikawa, Advertiser Capitol Bureau Source: Honolulu Advertiser People with serious illnesses can begin legally using marijuana under state law on Dec. 28, but the new law is vague on how patients can obtain the drug while state and federal regulations clash on its use.Under administrative rules approved Monday by Gov. Ben Cayetano, patients who want to legally use marijuana to treat or alleviate severe pain are required to get an annual written certificate approved by their physician. The law allows people to use the drug if they have a "debilitating medical condition" such as cancer, glaucoma or AIDS, or for a condition that causes pain, nausea, seizures or other problems.State public safety director Ted Sakai, whose department will administer the application program, made the forms for patient certificates available to physicians starting yesterday.Cayetano signed the medical marijuana law in June, but it took months for state officials to come up with rules dealing with its use following a public hearing last month. The provisions include: A yearly $25 fee from patients for the written certificate issued by the physician, who must be licensed to practice in Hawaii and authorized to deal with controlled substances. A requirement that the individual marijuana user or caregiver be allowed to raise no more than seven marijuana plants for medical use. An allowable supply is considered up to three ounces of marijuana, three mature marijuana plants and four immature plants.The law will not allow people to raise marijuana in abundance as part of a for-profit distribution business for medical patients, Sakai said. A 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 that the patient doesn’t exceed the amount of marijuana allowed by state law."It is the patient’s responsibility, not the physician’s, to comply with this provision of the law," Sakai said.Still Illegal Under Federal Law:Under federal law, it is illegal to possess or use marijuana. Sakai said state officials plan to discuss the issue with federal authorities, because it was unclear whether federal officials would still prosecute anyone using or raising marijuana for medical purposes."I think it is something they would decide on a case-by-case basis," said Keith Kamita, chief of the state’s narcotics enforcement division under the state Department of Public Safety.Sakai said a development that may affect Hawai‘i’s medical marijuana program is a pending U.S. Supreme Court case brought by the federal government to stop a group from selling marijuana to patients under California law legalizing medical marijuana.Tom Mountain, a medical marijuana advocate who runs the non-profit Honolulu Medical Marijuana Patients’ Co-op, said the new law is flawed, but called it "a good, first step.""The main drawback is you still cannot buy and sell marijuana, so how do you legally distribute it to the patients?" said Mountain, who periodically uses marijuana to deal with pain from a severe spinal-cord injury.To deal with that dilemma, Mountain said his co-op provides patients with marijuana donated by underground growers, and asks and accepts whatever monetary donations patients can make."I usually ask for a $25 donation for about an eighth of an ounce of marijuana, but many patients can’t afford to make donations because of high medical bills, so the growers sometimes have to eat the costs," he said.Mountain said he is afraid "misinformation and intimidation" may discourage some doctors from prescribing marijuana to their patients for medical purposes.Kamita noted that federal law still prohibits the transporting of marijuana between islands by mail or through an airport. That means medical marijuana will have to be supplied from the patient’s island of residence."The reason is anything dealing with the airport or postal system is under federal jurisdiction," Kamita said.Sakai did not know how many patients were expected to sign up for the program, but said those who use medical marijuana and fail to apply could face criminal prosecution. A 24-hour phone hotline will allow medical marijuana patients to show proof they are registered under state records to legally use the drug, said Sakai."Law enforcement officers who arrest someone for marijuana possession will be able to verify if the person is registered to legally use marijuana," he 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. Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)Published: December 20, 2000Author: Scott Ishikawa, Advertiser Capitol BureauCopyright: 2000 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.Address: P.O. Box 3110 Honolulu, HI 96802Fax: (808) 525-8037Contact: letters honoluluadvertiser.comWebsite: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Drug Policy Forum of Hawaiihttp://www.drugsense.org/dpfhi/Hawaii Medical Marijuana Institutehttp://www.medijuana.com/Advocates Laud Rules Allowing Use of Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8072.shtmlLegal Use of Medical Marijuana Begins Dec. 28http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8058.shtmlGovernor Approves Medical Marijuana Rules http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8057.shtmlCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by dddd on December 21, 2000 at 07:46:25 PT 1921 1921 The Council of the American Medical Association refuses to confirm the Associations 1917 Resolution on alcohol. In the first six months after the enactment of the Volstead Act, more than 15,000 physicians and 57,000 druggests and drug manufacturers apply for licenses to prescribe and sell liquor. [Sinclair, op. cit., p. 492] [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by dddd on December 21, 2000 at 06:59:37 PT prescription Kathleen...I like your comments. I think it's an interesting concept about making alcohol available by presciption only,from pharmacies. "I'd like to make an appointment with Doctor Smith.I need to get my Jack Daniels prescription renewed" [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by kathleen wedzik on December 21, 2000 at 06:41:39 PT: legality of marijuana The situation in Florida is self-inflicting. You pay taxes to support government agencies. Government agencies then follow only laws and regulations like there supposed to. After living and growing up in the state of Florida for 27 years now, having lived in Broward County in various cities, and now residing in West Palm Beach County, it all depends on location as to whether or not your name will be slaughtered by the government for use or possession of marijuana. No matter where you live, there is an underground drug railroad. In my travels, I have only found marijuana users and cocaine users. Sadly, sitting on the sidelines it has been proven to me through my eyes that cocaine kills people and destroys lives including family units. I will tell also that alcohol is as bad and addicting as cocaine and this too destroys families and lives. With eyes wide open and ears listening I can also tell that people who smoke marijuana can hold jobs, be responsible, have families, are non-violent and more likely to be very caring and nurturing people.I wish the laws would change somehow so marijuana smokers could obtain there marijuana from a pharmacy instead of an underground drug railroad. I also would like the laws to be changed so that people can grow there own plants on their own property. I also wish (for all the people who are now 6 feet under and dead from cocaine use) that the government really go after anyone who has anything to do with cocaine. To this date I do not know of anyone or have heard of anyone that has died from smoking marijuana. Another thought, since alcohol takes so many lives on the road why not do away with legal drinking institutions and only allow alcohol to be distributed by pharmacies too.If marijuana is given the o.k. from the federal government to be handled on a state level, I think the laws for it should be like alcohol laws. I do not support drinking and driving, I do not support driving under the influence of either illegal or prescription drugs, and I do not support driving while communicating by any kind of cell phone whether hands-free or not. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on December 21, 2000 at 04:56:55 PT: Mentally-challenged Feds Someone once told me that a measure of intelligence isn't how much a person knows, but how soon they realize that a boring, repetitive task isn't proving to be effective, and they cease doing it. The amount of time between the realization of its' uselessness and the abandoning of the task is the determining factor.In this case, the Feds must rate somewhere below Down's Syndrome victims. They've been at drug prohibition for 86 years now, and they still haven't tumbled to the fact it's a lost cause. Even with all the evidence, gathered at their own hand, they still refuse to give up trying to stop the tide from rolling in.Doesn't sound particularly smart to me; how about you?So what does this have to do with the article? Simply this: the first time the Feds try to prosecute someone for possession under (legislatively sanctioned!) Hawai'ian MMJ regulations (and they most certainly will; with their knee-jerk approach to cannabis, this is like waving a red cape in front of a bull in the ring) they will be opening a can of worms that will point out the inherent silliness of *all* the regulations regarding cannabis use. How unwieldy they are...and how pointless. That far too much in the way of resources would be wasted in prosecuting the case...and by inferrence, *all previous MJ cases*.And now, the usually expected Fed victory is not quite so assured as it once was; tough, dedicated lawyers like those the Kubby's have retained have run rings around the Feds, demolishing their testimonies, making laughing stocks of their supposed 'experts', and generally showing the Feds up for fools in having started this mess to begin with.And the Feds can't afford to appear foolish; in the political world, appearence is everything. In the last decade, the Feds have had their carefully orchestrated public relations mechanisms fall flat on their faces. Ruby Ridge, Waco, Klinton's indiscretions and the use of Federal agencies against his critics, and now, technology transfers to China that threaten US security. Not the kind of thing that impresses Congress and it's beancounting budgetary wonks.Nope, the Feds have not exactly provided stellar performances these last few years. Which makes them even more desperate to look like they are still on top of things, despite the reality. Hence their vicious pursuit of MMJ users; such traditionally easy targets provide lots of figures that they can use to deflect attention from their failures. But this time, it's an endeavor that is backfiring on them. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: