HI HCR138

Requests the Department of Health to amend Chapter 160, Hawaii Administrative Rules to allow physicians to certify patients for low THC medical marijuana for conditions beyond the current approved list of debilitating medical conditions.

Notes that Hawaii's medical marijuana program, established in 2000, had no changes to its approved conditions list until post-traumatic stress disorder was added in 2015 through legislative action.

Recognizes that the current petition process for adding conditions requires a public administrative hearing held infrequently and is the only way patients with non-approved conditions can access medical marijuana.

Proposes expanding eligibility specifically for low THC medical marijuana to increase patient access to medicine while limiting abuse potential of the drug's psychoactive component.

References California's broader approach allowing physicians to recommend medical marijuana for conditions including cancer, AIDS, chronic pain, and any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.