Hawaii lawmakers may ease access to medical marijuana

HONOLULU — Hawaii residents will have a chance to voice their opinion on establishing a statewide system to dispense medical marijuana during a public hearing before the Hawaii Medical Marijuana Dispensary Task Force.

The final hearing will be held Sept. 24 at 5 pm. at the Hawaii State Capitol Auditorium. A first public hearing was held Wednesday in Hilo on Hawaii Island.

The task force is charged with making recommendations to Hawaii lawmakers and suggesting ways the state can establish a regulated statewide medical marijuana dispensary system by January.

In addition to taking public comment, the task force is expected to review a new, 87-page report recently released by the Legislative Reference Bureau, “Is the grass always greener? An updated look at other state medical marijuana programs.”

The researchers, who reviewed Hawaii’s program and all other medical marijuana programs across the country, studied the challenges faced by the state’s 13,000 medical marijuana users.

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