Today the Department of Health sent out its most recent email update concerning its activities in regulating Hawaii’s medical cannabis industry. Of particular note is the Department’s rapid assimilation of the changes from Act 230 into its operations. The most substantial change so far: APRN’s can now certify patients under the medical cannabis program, using the same process as doctors! This will likely help the industry in expanding the patient base across the islands.

The other important news in this edition of the email update is that the Department of Health released new patient numbers for July, and more interestingly, patient number distributions by zipcode. This document will be a very useful marketing and location guide for dispensaries and related businesses alike. It will allow the industry to look at the topography of the patients across the islands and identify where the opportunities for current and future growth may lie.

As far as new patient numbers, DOH reports that as of July 31, 2016, the state added 11 new patients, growing from 14,492 in June to 14,503 in July. This number is an order of magnitude below the growth rates we have seen in previous months, and highlights the need for a concerted, industry-wide effort to encourage new patients to obtain their card, and the need for better education for Doctors and APRN’s regarding certification.

You can sign up to receive the Department of Health email update directly by submitting your email in the box on the lower right-hand side of the DOH website at: http://health.hawaii.gov/medicalmarijuanaregistry.

It is the Alliance’s mission to provide up-to-date and relevant industry information to the patients, dispensary applicants, and related businesses of Hawai‘i’s growing medicinal cannabis industry and to lobby effectively on behalf of the entire industry. Contact us today and we will send you the Summer Omnibus 2016 Edition of our monthly Industry Publication absolutely free to demonstrate just a little of the value we can provide you as a stakeholder in this industry.

You can also find us on Facebook or Twitter. If you like what we are doing, you should also consider joining the Alliance to support the future of Hawaii’s medical marijuana economy, find a doctor who is right for you, make profitable business alliances, and receive Hawaii’s only state specific industry analysis every month.