Hawaii OKs another dispensary to grow pot ADVERTISING Hawaii OKs another dispensary to grow pot HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii has given the green light to a third dispensary to begin acquiring and growing marijuana. Oahu-based Manoa Botanicals got the state
Hawaii OKs another dispensary to grow pot
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii has given the green light to a third dispensary to begin acquiring and growing marijuana.
Oahu-based Manoa Botanicals got the state Department of Health’s permission on Thursday. Aloha Green Holdings Inc. of Oahu and Maui Grown Therapies are the only other businesses that have received state approval for cultivation out of the state’s eight licensed dispensaries.
The approvals allow the dispensaries to acquire and grow marijuana seeds, clones and plants. The dispensaries may provide marijuana and marijuana products to patients registered with the department.
The state Legislature legalized medical marijuana dispensaries in 2015. But until last month the state lacked a federally required software system to track the product from seed to sale.
Before retail sales can begin, the health department must still test the marijuana products and connect patient registries to the tracking system.
Health officials said they are reviewing two applications from testing laboratories seeking to open on Maui and Oahu.
Medical marijuana was legalized in Hawaii in 2000, but the state didn’t legalize dispensaries until 15 years later.
The eight licensed medical marijuana dispensaries include three businesses on Oahu, one on Kauai and two each on Maui and the Big Island. Each licensee is allowed to operate two production centers and two retail sites. Up to 3,000 marijuana plants can be grown in the production centers.
There were more than 15,000 medical marijuana patients registered with the state at the end of last year, with more than 40 percent of them on the Big Island.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs elects new chairwoman
HONOLULU (AP) — Trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have voted to elect a new chairwoman.
The board of trustees chose Colette Machado of Molokai on Thursday to replace Rowena Akana, who was forced out on Feb. 2 after less than two months in the position.
Machado was first elected to the board in 1996. She previously served as chairwoman from December 2010 through November 2014.
“I am grateful that my fellow trustees have given me a second chance to lead them,” Machado said. “My goal is bring stability to the agency and rebuild our hale. We need to work together at the board level and with staff – embrace one and another with aloha so we can move forward for our Lahui.”
In her new role, Machado has already voiced support for Hawaiian Affairs CEO Kamanaopono Crabbe, whose leadership has been put into question.
A lawsuit filed by Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa Thursday seeks to invalidate Crabbe’s three-year, $150,000-a-year contract. It alleges the full board failed to authorize changes in the contract before it went into effect in November.
Machado says she’s confident the lawsuit will be dismissed. She also said the board should focus on where it can increase Crabbe’s “capacity” and improve him as a CEO.
“I think everyone’s been battered,” Machado said. “So it’s a matter of re-establishing. What that would look like, I’m not certain. But we’re going to have figure out how to resolve it.”
Machado also said she supports a proposed audit of the state agency tasked with improving the well-being of Native Hawaiians. The board’s resource management committee voted this week to move forward with the most comprehensive financial audit in the agency’s nearly 40-year history.
