David Y. Ige

HONOLULU — The Hawaii State Department of Health will deploy a web-based system that will provide 24/7 access to real-time data on medical marijuana inventory, sales, and other tracking information required of dispensary licensees statewide, according to Keith Ridley, Chief of the Department of Health’s Office of Health Care Assurance.

The Office of Health Care Assurance performs all state licensing activities on healthcare facilities, agencies and organizations in Hawaii, and is tasked with implementing Act 241, which was signed into law by Gov. David Ige in July 2015 and became section 329D, HRS. Under the new program, a dispensary licensee may begin dispensing medical marijuana and manufactured marijuana products to qualifying patients or primary caregivers no earlier than July 15, 2016, with the department’s approval.

A Request for Proposals (RFP) was issued on Nov. 19, 2015. The notice of award of contract for the computer software tracking system is expected to be made by Dec. 23, 2015.

“This is another major step forward to implement the medical marijuana program to ensure access for Hawaii patients and caregivers,” Ridley said. “After researching various options, the department determined a web-based software system would be the most effective and user-friendly way for licensees and state officials to collect and report seed-to-sale tracking information to ensure public safety and patient safety, and licensees will be required to utilize a tracking system. We are also exploring how other entities such as law enforcement officers or laboratories can also securely access the information.”

Detailed Inventory, Disposal, and Sales Information

The system will be used to track products from seed to sale or disposal, and will collect detailed inventory and sales information such as:

• The total amount of marijuana at each dispensary, in the form of seeds or plants, including all plants that are derived from cuttings or cloning, until the marijuana, marijuana plants, or manufactured marijuana products are sold or destroyed;
• The total amount of manufactured marijuana product inventory, including the equivalent physical weight of marijuana that is used to manufacture marijuana products or purchased by a qualifying patient and primary caregiver from all retail dispensing locations in any 15-day day period;
• The amount of unused plant material produced by each plant at harvest; and
• The transport of marijuana and manufactured marijuana products between production centers and retail dispensing locations, including tracking identification issued by the tracking system, the identity of the person transporting the marijuana or manufactured marijuana products, and how the products are transported.

Background

Under the new law, a total of eight licenses may be awarded. Three licenses may be issued for the City and County of Honolulu, two dispensary licenses each for the County of Hawaii and the County of Maui, and one dispensary license for the County of Kauai.

Each dispensary licensee will be allowed to operate up to two production centers and two retail stations for a total of 16 production centers and 16 retail dispensaries statewide. Each production center may have up to 3,000 marijuana plants.

The Request for Proposals is available online at https://health.hawaii.gov/medicalmarijuana under Dispensary Updates.

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