State police confiscated more than 6,700 marijuana plants on the Big Island during two recent eradication missions.
The Department of Public Safety Narcotics Enforcement Division had a mission Sept. 18-19 in East Hawaii, said Toni Schwartz, public information officer for the department. They found 6,000 plants, 90 percent of which were in one open-forest grow situation.
On Monday and Tuesday, the officers performed a similar mission on the west side of the Big Island. There, NED officers confiscated more than 700 plants, she said. Most were growing in residential areas.
No arrests were made in either operation, she reported.
Officers checked areas that had previous grows, Schwartz said, along with checking on people with medical marijuana licenses.
“There were lots of contacts made to remind people of how many plants they are allowed,” she said.
That’s in part because rules changed. Until July, growers were allowed to have three growing plants and four adult plants. Then the rules changed, allowing a flat seven plants and 4 ounces of marijuana.
Multiple people can register one location as their grow site, allowing up to the total of the registered cards in one spot, said Scottina Malia Ruis, the medical marijuana registry coordinator.
However, the marijuana is limited to the patient and caregiver, she said.
The state Department of Health altered other rules at the same time, including two measures to better tie users to their product. One rule requires each plant to be tagged with the identification number of the person growing the plant and the expiration of their permit.
The other rule requires growers and patients to keep an ID and the registration card with them at all times.
There also are some privacy protections for people who have the licenses.
Police do not have information about a person’s medical condition. However, they can contact the DOH to verify if a person or location is registered.
Police are limited in how many officers have access to the records of patients, caregivers and properties related to medical marijuana. There is one point of contact person between the law enforcement agency and the DOH and up to five officers are allowed to check the registry.
The Hawaii Police Department provided manpower when needed to support the operation, according to the department.
In the November 2008 election, Hawaii County voters approved an initiative making the enforcement of marijuana laws against small growers and users to be the lowest law enforcement priority.
That was overturned in court and ultimately appealed to the state Supreme Court, which upheld the ruling this year.
The operation included officers from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Conservation and Resource Enforcement. The DLNR directed all questions about the operations to the NED.
Email Graham Milldrum at gmilldrum@westhawaiitoday.com.
