Medical Marijuana Clinic to Open Soon in Honolulu

[Freaktan]

Oahu's first medical marijuana clinic is scheduled to open in Honolulu in about three weeks. The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation based in Portland, Ore., will operate the clinic, which will open Sept. 7 in a building on Kapiolani Boulevard near Ala Moana Center.

Foundation executive director Paul Stanford said the decision to open a clinic in Honolulu was prompted by the belief that Hawaii's medical marijuana program is underused. Only about 300 of the 2,700 patients certified to use marijuana for medical purposes live on Oahu. More than half are on the Big Island.

Some physicians are believed to be reluctant to certify patients because of conflicting state and federal laws.
The foundation's goal is to help certify 2,000 patients in the first year and 4,000 to 5,000 in the second year, Stanford said. About 50 appointments are lined up for the Honolulu clinic's opening days, he said.

The clinic will be staffed by a licensed physicians and nurse practitioners, and will assist patients having trouble finding a doctor willing to sign off on the program.

The state's five-year-old medical marijuana law allows patients to have three mature marijuana plants, four immature plants and an ounce of usable marijuana for each mature plant. The law does not specify how the medicine may be obtained.

Newshawk: Freaktan (420times.com)
Source: The Associated Press/Oregon Live
Copyright: 2005 The Associated Press
Contact: www.oregonlive.com/contactus/
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash
Author: The Associated Press