Important Guidelines for Growing Cannabis for Medical Use

We would like to remind patients and primary caregivers of the State of Hawaii’s regulations concerning growing cannabis for personal medical use. It is important to understand that a grow site cannot act as a caregiver.  This means that a grow site cannot cultivate cannabis for you, cannot process cannabis or manufactured cannabis products for you, and cannot sell cannabis or manufactured cannabis products to you.  Purchasing cannabis or manufactured cannabis products from a grow site is not protected under the Hawaii medical cannabis laws.  Only your primary caregiver may assist you with cultivating and processing your cannabis for medical use.

If you are growing cannabis, please ensure you comply with the following requirements:

  • A patient must designate a single grow site on the patient’s application.
  • The grow site can be only one of the following locations: patient’s residence, registered primary caregiver’s residence, or another site that the patient or primary caregiver owns or controls.
  • The patient must declare, under perjury of law, that they or their primary caregiver resides at, owns, or controls the grow site.
  • The patient and primary caregiver are allowed to grow up to 10 cannabis plants total. This limit includes plants at any stage of maturity. A clone or immature plant count as one plant.
  • Each cannabis plant at the grow site must be individually tagged with the patient’s valid registration number and registration expiration date. The tag must be physically attached to the plant.
  • Only the patient or the primary caregiver named on the patient’s 329 registration card are allowed to handle that patient’s cannabis plants. No other person may care for, touch, water, or harvest a patient’s cannabis plants.
  • A patient may not assign their right to grow, handle, or process cannabis plants to a grow site or a third party.  Only a  patient’s registered primary caregiver may assist with growing a patient’s cannabis plants.

It is important to adhere to these requirements to maintain the validity of your registration. Non-compliance poses the risk of having the grow site revoked or the patient’s 329 card voided. Please be advised that the Department of Health may contact patients or their primary caregivers to verify your grow site information, including performing plant count checks and tag inspections at the designated grow site.

If you are registered to grow cannabis and wish to update information on your application,  please log into your account at https://medmj.ehawaii.gov to make the change electronically OR complete a change request form at https://health.hawaii.gov/medicalcannabisregistry/329-forms/  and mail it to:

Medical Cannabis Patient Registry
4348 Waialae Avenue, #648
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816

If you have questions, please call 808-733-2177 or email [email protected].

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If you are planning on acquiring medical cannabis from a dispensary, you must have 1) your valid 329 card, and 2) valid state ID, valid state driver’s license, or valid passport on your person to gain entry.

The Hawaii Department of Health is responsible for administering two distinct but related medical cannabis programs.

  • Medical Cannabis Patient Registry Program
  • Medical Cannabis Dispensary Program

Both are designed to ensure medical cannabis is accessible for Hawaii’s patients, while making patient safety and public safety its ultimate priorities.

Please click on the Blue Button below for more information about each program.
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Medical Cannabis Patient Registry Program

 

Hawaii law requires all qualified patients to be registered with the Medical Cannabis Patient Registry Program before they begin to use cannabis for medicinal purposes. The registration process begins when:

  1. A license Physician or Advanced practice registered nurse certifies the health condition can benefit from medical cannabis
  2. Patient creates and registers with the DOH medmj.ehawaii.gov account
  3. DOH reviews, approves and issues a 329 Registration Card

 

DOH’s goal is to issue the patient’s 329 Registration Card in a timely manner so that patients can begin or continue to legally use medical cannabis.

DOH is required to provide law enforcement officials with limited access to the Medical Cannabis Registry Program’s database as a tool to safeguard the community against illegal cannabis use and/or illegal cannabis grow sites.

 

 

 Dispesary Medical Cannabis Dispensary Program

 

 

The Hawaii Department of Health’s Dispensary Licensing program monitor’s the quality of the cannabis products from seed to sale. This includes statewide oversight of the laboratories that test the safety and quality of the cannabis and manufactured cannabis products, and monitoring of the dispensaries who will grow, manufacture, and sell the products to qualified patients.

Act 241 was signed into law in July 2015 and became Chapter 329D, HRS.  The Hawaii Department of Health will begin administering the Medical Cannabis Dispensary Program in 2016 and dispensaries may begin to dispense medical cannabis and manufactured medical cannabis products as early as July 2016 with departmental approval.

Medical cannabis has been legal in Hawaii since 2000, but access to medical cannabis remained a challenge.  Patients and caregivers could legally grow their own cannabis plants within certain parameters.  Advocates of medical cannabis have hailed the dispensary program as a major breakthrough. The goal of the dispensary licensure program is to make medicinal products readily available for registered patients while balancing the health and safety of patients and the public.

Dispensary Applicants, be sure to regularly check Dispensary Updates (on the left side of this page) for information on dispensary licensing requirements, frequently asked questions (FAQ), and other valuable updates.

 

Hemp button

In an effort to consolidate oversight of access to cannabis and hemp derived products by patients and consumers of Hawaii, the Office of Medical Cannabis Control and Regulation (OMCCR) has been tasked by the Department of Health to regulate the hemp processing industry for the State of Hawaii.
Act 263, was enacted in July 2023 and amended the states Hemp Processor law (Chapter 328G, Hawaii Revised Statute). OMCCR is working to amend interim rules (Chapter 11-37, Hawaii Administrative Rules), to reflect the changes brought by Act 263. These interim rules will be forthcoming.