Your Views for June 23

Law needs tweaks

We agree with state Rep. Joy San Buenaventura that the dispensary bill is “… not a perfect bill” (Tribune-Herald, June 12). Puna residents are “fired up” because they know a bad bill when they see it.

But we need not lay the deficiencies of the bill at the foot of our two fine legislators, San Buenaventura and state Sen. Russell Ruderman. They are listening and working hard to improve the program.

The fault with this imperfect bill lies largely with the workings of the police. They had a strong lobbying influence in determining what went into HB 321 as it marched through the committees last year. Others to blame were Oahu-centric and conservative legislators who would only pass a dispensary bill which met the approval of the state’s attorney general and blessings from police.

When the hearings ended, the bill was so tweaked it no longer remotely resembled the original version. In a vain attempt to reintroduce the better aspects of the bill, I attended the final conference committee meetings. Legislators just wanted to be done with it. The bill’s final wording gave law enforcement ultimate power to control and highly regulate the dispensary system by allowing the licensee the exclusive, monopolistic right to grow and sell.

The “all under one roof,” or vertical integration concept, played perfectly into the police agenda. Moreover, by eliminating the caregiver component and ignoring co-ops, the lawmakers grossly stacked the deck against us.

No wonder we’re upset.

Americans for Safe Access urges patients to ask candidates what they will do to improve medical cannabis laws. Establishing co-ops and restoring caregivers to the program would be a good start.

Patients’ concerns should be considered a priority as costs for cannabis medicine are not reimbursed by Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance. Good alternatives to high-priced dispensary medicine are a necessity.

Andrea Tischler

Chairwoman, Big Island chapter, Americans for Safe Access