Bill Text: HI SR84 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Medical Marijuana; Administrative Rules
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-16 - Referred to CPH/JDL, WAM. [SR84 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2016-SR84-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.R. NO. |
84 |
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TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE RESOLUTION
Requesting the department of health to consider amending CHAPTER 160, hawaii administrative rules, to allow physicians to certify patients for low TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL (Thc) medical marijuana for conditions beyond those included on the current list of debilitating medical conditions APPROVED FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA.
WHEREAS, there are 23 states, plus the District of Columbia and Guam, that allow comprehensive public medical marijuana and cannabis programs for their residents, and four states, plus the District of Columbia, that have legalized marijuana for recreational use; and
WHEREAS, the State established its medical marijuana program in 2000, affording patients statewide access to relief and care for a number of eligible medical conditions; and
WHEREAS, chapter 160, Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR), sets forth rules for the Medical Use of Marijuana Program, including the process to amend the list of debilitating medical conditions approved for medical marijuana and the petition process for a physician or potentially qualifying patient to file a petition with the Department of Health to add a medical condition to the list of debilitating medical conditions; and
WHEREAS, this process requires a public administrative hearing, which may be held as infrequently as once a year; and
WHEREAS, petitioning to amend the administrative rules is the only way a patient with a condition that is not on the approved list can obtain medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, since the medical marijuana program's inception in 2000, there have been no changes to the list of debilitating medical conditions until post-traumatic stress disorder was added in 2015 by legislative action; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes concerns regarding the potential abuse of medical marijuana, particularly marijuana’s primary psychoactive compound, THC; and
WHEREAS, there is benefit to expanding the list of eligible medical conditions specifically for medical marijuana with low THC content, as such allowances would afford patients increased access to much-needed medicine without an increased opportunity for the abuse of the psychoactive component of the drug; and
WHEREAS, California Health and Safety Code section 11357-11362.9 provides Californians with "the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes where that medical use is deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician who has determined that the person's health would benefit from the use of marijuana in the treatment of cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine, or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief"; and
WHEREAS, physicians nationwide are currently permitted to prescribe the medication marinol, the active ingredient of which is synthetic THC; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, that the Department of Health is requested to consider amending chapter 160, HAR, to allow physicians to certify patients for low THC medical marijuana for conditions beyond those included on the current list of debilitating medical conditions approved for medical marijuana, at the discretion of the physician; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health.
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OFFERED BY: |
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Medical Marijuana; Administrative Rules
