Politics
Hawaii Officials Are Offering Medical Marijuana Education Classes For Doctors
Hawaii regulators are launching a series of courses designed to educate physicians and other healthcare professionals about medical marijuana as the state’s cannabis program expands.
The state Department of Health (DOH) announced on Wednesday that the new free Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Education (CE) courses are “designed to give healthcare providers a foundational understanding of the endocannabinoid system, the largest signaling system in the body, and the clinical application of medical cannabis and cannabidiol (CBD).”
“Through these courses, healthcare providers can gain a better understanding of the pharmacology of cannabinoids, potential therapeutic benefits and appropriate dosing strategies,” a press release says. “Equipping providers with this knowledge can improve care for patients who are already using cannabis or who may benefit from its use.”
The effort comes roughly a month after Gov. Josh Green (D) signed a bill to expand medical marijuana access in Hawaii by allowing a patient’s primary treating medical provider to recommend cannabis for any malady they see fit, regardless of whether it’s a specified qualifying condition under state law. The new law also allows patients to receive medical cannabis recommendations through telehealth visits rather than having to establish an in-person relationship with a provider.
State health officials said on Wednesday that there is “a growing body of scientific evidence” showing medical marijuana “effectiveness in managing specific conditions.”
“While cannabis remains a Schedule I controlled substance at the federal level, it can offer a viable and often transformative alternative for patients who have not responded to conventional therapies.”
“With more than 120,000 patients having enrolled in Hawaiʻi’s medical cannabis program since its inception and about 30,000 patients currently registered, healthcare providers will likely encounter patients using cannabis for medical purposes,” Dr. Kenneth Fink, DOH director, said. “Recognizing potential side effects and drug interactions will help improve patient safety.”
The new course bundle is being offered for free to the first 200 registrants. After that, the course will remain available for a fee set by the course provider, TheAnswerPage.com.
The medical marijuana expansion bill signed by the governor in late June, in addition to allowing more patients to more easily access cannabis, also contains a provision that advocates find problematic.
Before lawmakers sent the legislation to Green, a conference committee revised the plan, inserting a provision to allow the state Department of Health to access medical marijuana patient records held by doctors for any reason whatsoever.
The revised bill authorizes the Department of Health to “inspect a qualifying patient’s medical records held by the physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or hospice provider who issued a written certification for the qualifying patient.” Providers who don’t comply with a department request for a patient’s records could see their ability to issue medical cannabis revoked.
Advocates initially supported HB 302 as a means to expand access to patients with conditions beyond those specified under state law. But many withdrew support following the conference committee’s changes.
An additional provision establishes a new Class C felony for unlicensed operation of a dispensary, adding another major charge on top of the state’s existing laws against illegal distribution of marijuana.
In early June, Green himself put the cannabis measure on a list of bills he intended to veto—an indication, though not a commitment, that he was leaning towards rejecting it.
“Although this bill’s authorization of medical cannabis certifications via telehealth expands access to medical cannabis,” his office wrote at the time, “provisions authorizing the inspection of patients’ medical records without warrant constitute a grave violation of privacy.”
Green acknowledged patients might be especially concerned about removing privacy protections given that marijuana remains federally illegal, noting that those concerns could actually limit enrollment in the state-legal system.
“Given that the federal government classifies cannabis as a Schedule I substance,” his office said at the time, “patients’ reasonable fears of repercussions based upon information gained from inspection of their personal medical records may deter patients from participating in the medical cannabis program.”
In May, Green signed separate legislation to allow medical marijuana caregivers to grow marijuana on behalf of up to five patients rather than the current one.
Last month the governor signed another bill that establishes a number of new rules around hemp products in Hawaii, including a requirement that distributors and retailers obtain a registration from DOH.
Lawmakers also sent a bill to the governor this session that would help speed the expungement process for people hoping to clear their records of past marijuana-related offenses—a proposal Green signed into law in April.
That measure, HB 132, from Rep. David Tarnas (D), is intended to expedite expungements happening through a pilot program signed into law last year by Green. Specifically, it will remove a distinction between marijuana and other Schedule V drugs for the purposes of the expungement program.
The bill’s proponents said the current wording of the law forces state officials to comb through thousands of criminal records manually in order to identify which are eligible for expungement under the pilot program.
Hawaii’s Senate back in February narrowly defeated a separate proposal that would have increased fivefold the amount of cannabis that a person could possess without risk of criminal charges. The body voted 12–11 against the decriminalization measure, SB 319, from Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D).
Had the measure become law, it would have increased the amount of cannabis decriminalized in Hawaii from the current 3 grams up to 15 grams. Possession of any amount of marijuana up to that 15-gram limit would have been classified as a civil violation, punishable by a fine of $130.
A Senate bill that would have legalized marijuana for adults, meanwhile, ultimately stalled for the session. That measure, SB 1613, failed to make it out of committee by a legislative deadline.
While advocates felt there was sufficient support for the legalization proposal in the Senate, it’s widely believed that House lawmakers would have ultimately scuttled the measure, as they did last month with a legalization companion bill, HB 1246.
Last session, a Senate-passed legalization bill also fizzled out in the House.
This year’s House vote to stall the bill came just days after approval from a pair of committees at a joint hearing. Ahead of that hearing, the panels received nearly 300 pages of testimony, including from state agencies, advocacy organizations and members of the public.
This past fall, regulators solicited proposals to assess the state’s current medical marijuana program—and also sought to estimate demand for recreational sales if the state eventually moves forward with adult-use legalization. Some read the move as a sign the regulatory agency saw a need to prepare to the potential reform.
