Gov. Green orders protection for caregivers providing medical cannabis to qualified patients

Caregivers who provide medical cannabis to qualified patients will be protected from “undue enforcement” under an executive order signed by Gov. Josh Green.

“We have medical cannabis statutes to provide patients the relief each desperately needs as they navigate very serious health issues,” said Green, a medical doctor. “We must protect the patients and their caregivers when the caregivers cultivate cannabis for a patient in a manner that fits squarely within the spirit of the medical-cannabis law.”

The executive order was prompted by legal changes set to go into effect Jan. 1. After Dec. 31, no primary caregiver will be authorized to cultivate cannabis.

Act 309, signed into law in July 2022 by then Gov. David Ige, changed Hawaii’s medical cannabis law. Among other things, the law extended the date after which primary caregivers will no longer be authorized to cultivate cannabis for a qualifying patient. The law extended the date from Dec. 31, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2024.

Beginning Jan. 1, by law, only a licensed medical marijuana dispensary or a patient cultivating his or her own cannabis in limited amounts can grow medical cannabis.
 
Green’s order directs the Department of Health not to use resources to address situations where a caregiver is cultivating cannabis for a patient within the bounds of the law that exist today. According to the executive order, this will allow primary caregivers to continue to perform their duties without fear of enforcement from the Department of Health, so long as they are not committing other significant violations.
 
“The Hawaiʻi Department of Health strongly supports continuing to allow primary caregivers to cultivate medical cannabis for qualifying patients as needed for the patients’ health,” said Department of Health Director Dr. Kenneth Fink.
 
The governor urged the Legislature to “fix this law to ensure that primary caregivers can continue to provide services to those patients who are in the greatest need.”

A copy of the order can be found here.