Hawaii lawmakers have advanced a bill to allow qualifying patients to access medical marijuana at health facilities.
In one of the latest examples of states pursuing what’s known as “Ryan’s law”—a reference to a young medical cannabis patient in California who passed away—the Hawaii House Health Committee and Human Services & Homelessness Committee held a joint hearing on Wednesday at which members unanimously approved the legislation, with amendments.
The bill from Rep. Gregg Takayama (D) states that it’s the “intent of the legislature in enacting this chapter to support the ability of terminally ill patients and qualifying patients over sixty-five years of age with chronic diseases to safely use medical cannabis within specified health care facilities.”
While Takayama said his initial instinct was to defer the bill for action, he decided upon review of testimony that “it bears further consideration.” That includes incorporating agency recommendations to permit, rather than require, health facilities to allow medical cannabis use and exempt residential treatment centers from the proposed law.
In written testimony submitted ahead of the committee hearing, the state Office of Medical Cannabis Control and Regulation (OMCCR) said that it “supports the intent of this measure to improve access for
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