According to a press release issued by the Maui Wellness Group LLC, it won’t be long now until Maui finally gets a medical marijuana dispensary.
Just a few more months or so, according to a news release I got last night from Maui Grown Therapies, the company co-founded by former Maui Land & Pineapple Company CEO David Cole.
“Maui Grown Therapies today announced its first medical cannabis dispensary is located in the Maui Lani Village Center at 44 Pa`a Street in Kahului,” states the press release. “The dispensary joins other medical, professional and retail businesses in the Professional Row section of the commercial development.”
As far when exactly the dispensary will open, that’s still not really know (as you can see from the photo above, taken on Dec. 15, the building is still under construction). “The company expects to sell cannabis and cannabis-derivative products approximately 112 days after it receives a ‘Notice to Proceed with Cultivation’ from the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health,” states the press release. “The company will host a series of open houses and educational events in the 2,112-sq. ft. dispensary building beginning in February 2017.”
In any case, when it does finally open, the dispensary will just be a convenient three-minute walk away from both Mako’s Mart and North Shore Pizza Company, also located in the Maui Lani Village Center.
Though medicinal marijuana has been legal in Hawaii since 2000, dispensaries weren’t legalized until 2015. The process of actually licensing and constructing the dispensaries has been long. For more information, check out the State of Hawaii’s Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program website.
According to an article in Maui Times last April, “Patients should be able to buy from dispensaries in July, officials announced.”
Editor’s note: Cannabis is not “legal” in Hawaii for anyone. It is still a criminal offense to consume or possess Cannabis WITH a Doctor’s recommendation and certification from the state. Patients kindly ask that you inform the emerging industry and your local politician of these facts. Dispensaries will be selling a federally scheduled drug illegally to criminals according to current law. Legislators were asked to decriminalize Cannabis for patients but failed to do so in 2016.
Photo: MauiTime