Hawaii’s Only Medical Marijuana Dispensary Sells Out in First Week

Due to administrative regulations, Hawaii’s only medical marijuana dispensary sells out in first week of operation. Because the medical dispensary, Maui Grown Therapies, has run out of supplies to keep up with their huge demand, they were forced to change their hours of operation.

Supply and Demand Meets Bureaucracy

According to Maui News, the only Hawaii-based medical cannabis dispensary has been forced to close this Monday and Tuesday. Maui Grown Therapies will also need to adjust their hours of operation. While they originally hoped to be open from 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening, the dispensary will now operate from noon to six until further notice.

These forced changes, like many forced changes, are due to state-sponsored bureaucratic red tape. Maui Grown Therapies had planned to open their doors to medical cannabis patients with a wide range of products. These products included topicals, concentrates, and oils. In order to do this, their production lab had to be certified by the Department of Health’s State Lab Division.

The Department of Health was supposed to certify the lab by Saturday. It did not. As a result, Maui Grown Therapies was only able to sell smokable weed (flower). And as a result of that, the available supply of flowers was depleted.

In order to save their patients time and travel expenses, the dispensary announced that it would not be open on Monday and Tuesday.

In an official statement, the director of product management, Christopher Cole, characterized the failure to certify the lab as an “administrative hindrance.” He expressed regret for the thousands of Hawaiian patients who could not get the medicine that they need.

The co-founder of Maui Grown Therapies, oncologist Dr. Gregory Park, was also displeased. Especially because patients are currently only able to buy flowers, rather than non-smokeable forms of cannabis. He called it “ironic” since the Department of Health is so anti-smoking.

Final Hit: Hawaii’s Only Medical Marijuana Dispensary Sells Out in First Week

In order to better manage this hardship, Maui Grown Therapies had to implement some changes. In addition to adjusting their business hours, the dispensary has decided to take another measure. Because Hawaii’s only medical marijuana dispensary sells out in first week, they will require patients to make an appointment in advance to come into the dispensary and purchase medical weed.

This may seem nonsensical. Maybe even borderline Kafkaesque. Solving bureaucracy with more bureaucracy? But for Maui Grown Therapies, it’s the only viable solution at hand at the moment. To make an appointment, patients can visit their website.

While these limitations are only for the moment, it’s frustrating for both the patients and the operators of the dispensary. Until the Department of Health’s State Lab Division certifies their production lab, the dispensary can’t produce and sell their full range of products. So until then, patients will have to make due with the limited supply of bud that is available.