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Hawaii Medical Cannabis Patients Must 'Wait Until Next Year' as State Legislature Adjourns Matt Rifkin Hawaii Daily News Saturday 05 May 2012 Medical cannabis patients in Hawaii are becoming a little bit like Chicago Cubs fans… it's "wait until next year." Once again, there were no improvements made to the program. Even though SB2262, relating to the patient's pain bill of rights, passed the Senate 25-0, it did not get a hearing in the House. Being unable to make any progress is frustrating but not a total surprise as legislators tend to avoid "controversial" topics in election years. Certainly, HB1963 should serve as a wake up call to all patients. We now have a very clear idea of the Narcotics Enforcement Division's legislative agenda. Their goal is to reduce the number of patients by removing "chronic pain" as a qualifying condition, and to sharply increase the penalties for those who remain in the program. We simply cannot allow this to happen. We must continue to educate our legislators, and to voice our concerns. The legislative and testimony process can be long and drawn out, yet also a mad scramble because of the small window to submit testimony. I want to thank again all the patients who took the time and made the effort to share their stories by testifying. There are now about 11,000 patients, but only about 100 testified this year. We will need much greater participation in 2013 if we want our legislators to hear our voices and to follow our wishes. This Saturday, May 5, is the Hawaii County Democratic Party convention in Honoka'a. Thanks to the efforts of several people, there will be one resolution relating to supporting the medical marijuana program and three relating to ending prohibition. This is another way for the people to express their will to those running for office. Several local of members of Americans for Safe Access will be attending the state convention at the end of May, and we will be trying to get the resolutions adopted there too. There were similar resolutions in 2010, so we are hopeful that these will make the grade. This is yet another grassroots effort to make our priorities known to our elected officials. MEDICAL CANNABIS BILLS: 2012 HAWAII STATE LEGISLATURE SCR62 – Rescheduling Cannabis SR24: Rescheduling Cannabis HB2600: Relating to controlled substances SB2262: Pain Bill of Rights SB2405: Relating to Medical Cannabis HB1963: Conditions for medical use of marijuana SB2026: Conditions for medical use of marijuana SB2406: Adding PTSD to Hawai'i's Medical Marijuana Program http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2012/05/hawaii-medical-cannabis-patients-must-wait-until-next-year-as-state-legislature-adjourns/
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