Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Saturday, April 9, 2016
DoH: Marijuana Dispensary Selection May be Delayed
By News Release @ 4:19 PM :: 4402 Views :: Drugs

MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY LICENSEE SELECTION CONTINUES WITH CHANGE IN SELECTION PANEL AND START OF FINGERPRINT BACKGROUND CHECKS

News Release from Hawaii DoH, April 8, 2016

HONOLULU – The Hawaii State Department of Health is preparing for the selection of the first licensees for the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program by next week Friday. In the interest of full disclosure and transparency, the Department is notifying the applicants and the public of some recent developments.

First, one of the panel members was unable to fully participate in the selection, and his scoring will not be included. Peggy Leong, Supervisor of the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Licensing Program explained, "It has just recently come to my attention that Dr. John Fisher, through no fault on his part, was not able to continue with his review. I'm not at liberty to share more details, in the interest of Dr. Fisher's privacy. We thank him for his time and assistance to date and wish him well."

The review and selection of the applicants will continue with the remaining four panel members. "We believe the review will be sufficiently rigorous with the remaining four members of the panel," said Director of Health, Dr. Virginia Pressler.

In addition, the Department has encountered delays related to the required fingerprinting and background checks of the applicants. This has resulted in a notice last night to the applicants to submit their fingerprints through the contracted service provider, Fieldprint, by next week Tuesday in order for the Department to complete the mandatory review of the applications by the Friday deadline.

Leong explained, "The process to select licensees involves coordination of several complex systems that required multiple levels of testing, including the fingerprinting and background checks. The applicants were aware from the start that this was a requirement and we appreciate their cooperation and efforts in complying as quickly as possible. We know that this is not an ideal situation for them, but if the applicants are not able to comply with the short turnaround time, or the Department is unable to review the background check results when they are received, we may need to wait to announce the final selection."

Pressler added, "We knew from the start that the timelines in the statute were very tight, but we were committed to doing our best to meet them, and so far we have been able to do so. We are pushing ahead with the selection and doing everything possible to make the announcement by the April 15 deadline set out in the statute. But we would rather have a good result than release the names prematurely just to meet an arbitrary deadline."

The medical marijuana dispensary law, Chapter 329D, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), allows DOH to award a total of eight licenses initially: three licenses for the City and County of Honolulu, two dispensary licenses each for the County of Hawaii and the County of Maui, and one dispensary license for the County of Kauai. Each dispensary licensee will be allowed to operate up to two production centers and two retail dispensing locations.

For more information about the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program, go to http://health.hawaii.gov/medicalmarijuana/.

# # #

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT