Hawaii gave the go-ahead to growers to begin their cultivation processes when the new tracking system, BioTrackTHC, goes live on February 1st. So, dispensaries that have met the state’s compliance guidelines can begin growing marijuana on the 1st.
There is no set date for products to be available for purchase at dispensaries yet, according to Hawaii News Now. Labs still need to be certified and the tracking software has to be connected to the state’s marijuana registry program. So, that still leaves at least 8 to perhaps 12 weeks before patients can visit a dispensary.
Keith Ridley of the DOH Office of Health Care Assurance said, “There’s still a lot to do and we are diligently working on all fronts to ensure those happen as quickly as possible.”
Some patients are becoming aggravated with the time it is taking to get up and running.
Ridley said, “We have friends and relatives in similar situations, so we’re as much working for the person that we don’t know as for the person that we do.”
The delays are also aggravating for the dispensaries waiting in limbo.
Michael Rollins of PharmLabs, LLC said, “When certain hurdles come about that are not a result of any failure on the lab or the dispensary side, we’re forced to bear the weight of the financial expense.”
Rollins also said, regarding expenses paid while in limbo, that, “Our expense right now is our rent and our pay for our employees and we refuse to let go the people we already hired.”
Some dispensaries may be looking into starting with clones as the seed to harvest process takes longer and the patients have waited long enough. Dispensaries are permitted to grow up to 3,000 plants at a time. Four of the eight approved dispensaries are ready to break soil.