Weblog of the Honolulu, Hawaii Chapter of the ASA
Welcome to the Honolulu ASA blog. Here we will post interesting articles, comments, and rants & raves concerning medical marijuana.
I will try to make daily updates, however sometimes this will not be possible as at times we are extremely busy, especially during the Hawaii Legislative Session.
Sit back, relax, and let me take you on a journey into my thoughts and feelings.
RC Anderson, PhD
On Friday the Conference Committee met to discuss SB1058 SD2 HD2 which sets up the Medical Cannabis Task Force to study the program in Hawaii and submit recommendations back to the legislature for positive changes to it.
Senator Espero proposed additional changes to the composition of the task force, which meant that the committee could not vote on the bill, but had to put it off again to look over his proposed changes.
The proposed changes include removing the Attorney General from the task force and replacing him with someone from the ACLU; Removing one of the two physicians on the task force and requiring the one that remains to be a specialist in pain management; Adding 2 registered patients along with a registered caregiver appointed by the governor; and adding someone from the Department of Agriculture.
They have rescheduled the Conference Committee hearing for Tuesday, April 28th at 10:30 a.m. in conference room 312 at the state capitol. Testimony can not be given, but we are able to sit there quietly and listen to the legislators debate the bill. Hopefully they will vote on and approve the bill at that time.
RC Anderson, Ph.D.
We are working out the details of new Cannabis Classes that we will begin offering soon.
Some of the topics that we will cover will include:
We will be offering these classes each month and the classes are provided free of charge.
We are also working out the details for Cannabis Camp where we will camp out over the weekend and have training classes, and other activities of interest to medical users and growers.
As the details are worked out for these new programs, we will post them on our website at www.HonoluluASA.org
RC Anderson, Ph.D.
Well, it finally looks like we will have a task force to work out solutions to our failed medical cannabis system here in Hawaii. SB1058 SD2 HD2 is now going over to Conference Committee and is on its final stages before it goes over to the governor’s desk next month for her approval.
This version of a task force will be quite different than the “working group” that was set up back in 2005 which unfortunately did not make any changes at all to the program. This task force will be composed of multiple patient advocates, including myself, who will work to make positive changes to the program for the benefit of the patients the program was designed for.
This will be the first time that American’s for Safe Access has held a seat on a state medical cannabis task force, so it will be a historic event on that part. We are sure that this will not be the last time that American’s for Safe Access will have a say in protecting the patient’s rights.
The Conference Committee members were just assigned and shall consist of: Senate Conferees appointed: Espero, Chair; Taniguchi, Co-Chair(s); Slom. House conferees appointed: Karamatsu, Hanohano, Yamane, Aquino Co-Chairs; Marumoto.
I think our biggest hurdles will be Senator Sam Slom and Represenative Barbara Marumoto, both of which are Republicans, and both are sitting as Co-Chairs.
We hope that all of the Representatives and Senators appointed to this committee will see the urgent need of the terminally ill and suffering in Hawaii and will pass this bill to allow the Cannabis Task Force to be set up so that we can begin working on solutions to the many current problems that the program has.
We will keep you updated on the progress of this bill and the task force as it becomes available.
RC Anderson, Ph.D.
I keep hearing people say that we should “decriminalize” marijuana so that the patients can have access to it without fear of being prosecuted or incarcerated. In my opinion, this is a very bad idea, and I will tell you why.
Over the past few years we have made huge strides in bringing medical cannabis into mainstream thought. Lately more and more of the general public is now getting behind and supporting medical cannabis. This is something that we need to continue to work on improving, and in my opinion, decriminalization will have just the opposite effect.
Decriminalization and Legalization are NOT the same thing, it is not even a close compromise. Decriminalization still says that what you are doing is illegal, and that you are a criminal, but we just choose not to do anything about it. This sends the wrong message to the general public about medical cannabis.
We are working hard to show the public, and the DEA that there is a clear difference between medical use and recreational use of cannabis, yet we keep hearing comments like “medical use is just an excuse for recreational use”. This is because people still see this as wrong, and illegal, and until its medical use is completely legalized, this will not completely change. People will always look at us as criminals, “looking for a way around the law”.
Decriminalization does not make it legal, does not say that it is ok, or what you are doing is correct, it clearly says that what you are doing is illegal, “but we will look the other way”.
Cannabis has been used around the world as a medicine for 10,000 years and there is so much recent scientific proof that it works, and is one of the best and safest medications in the world. There is no man made medication in the entire world that treats as many illnesses, diseases, and symptoms as cannabis does, all without the risk of death that even aspirin or ibuprofen can cause.
Personally, I will not settle for mere decriminilization. I will only accept full legalization for medical use.
RC Anderson, PhD
