Honolulu – When Hawaii lawmakers crafted the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries law last year, they used federal policy as a guide.
The Cole Memorandum makes states responsible to enforce laws that regulate the cannabis industry.
“We have prohibitions against sale to minors,” said Rep. Della Au Belatti, chairwoman of the House Health Committee. “We have prohibitions on advertising. So we’ve done a lot of the things to comply with the Cole Memorandum.”
President-elect Donald Trump has expressed support for medical marijuana.
But Au Belatti worries a new, Trump-appointed U.S. attorney general could rescind the Cole Memo and assert more federal control.
“If there’s any more additional oversight, that could add to the cost. That could add to the confusion,” she said. “And it could stymie the efforts that states have been undertaking.”
It could also scare people away from applying for dispensary licenses – and make present backers of dispensaries think twice about their investment.
Alan Johnson, for one, hopes Trump increases oversight of medical marijuana.
Johnson is the president of substance abuse treatment center Hina Mauka, and says it’s a bad idea to make marijuana more accessible.
“Over the time of medical marijuana, marijuana has increased to the no. 1 drug of abuse among kids,” he said. “We’re concerned about the addiction aspect of it. We’re concerned that not enough testing has been done.”
The Cole Memorandum gives states space to operate their own strict systems of regulation. “We’re having a situation where the states are leading,” Au Belatti said. “For the federal government to reign that back in will be very difficult.”
Difficult, but not impossible.
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Full Article: Some Fear Trump Administration May Crack Down On Medical Marijuana
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