Hawaii’s soon-to-open medical marijuana dispensaries could have at least one place to send cannabis for testing.
The state Department of Health is reviewing an application from PharmLabs Hawaii LLC, an expansion of a San Diego-based marijuana laboratory testing company called PharmLabs LLC.
Hawaii law requires dispensaries to have a “statistically representative sample” of any marijuana or manufactured marijuana product tested by a state-certified lab prior to sale.
The department hadn’t received any applications for labs seeking state certification until this month, spurring some to question whether any would be available by the time dispensaries were ready to open. Now, in addition to PharmLabs Hawaii, the DOH is aware of “a couple other (prospective) applicants that are interested” in applying, department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said last week.
Earlier this month, the DOH signed a contract for a web-based, seed-to-sale medical marijuana tracking system with Florida-based BioTrackTHC, clearing another requirement before dispensaries can legally open.
PharmLabs Hawaii founder Greg Magdoff said he expects the DOH to approve its application in the coming weeks. Should that happen, the company could begin testing in early 2017.
Magdoff said he has family on Maui and has traveled to the island for decades.
“I really call (Hawaii) home,” he told the Tribune-Herald last week. “I’ve spoken to a lot of the licensees and I want them to understand that we understand aloha and we really do carry that. It’s really important to me to be a part of that.”
PharmLabs Hawaii would base testing on Maui but serve dispensaries statewide through locally based hubs, Magdoff said. The company uses a robotic sample preparation system in order to reduce the need for human technicians and increase reproducibility and accuracy, Magdoff said. It’s equipped to run more than 100 samples each day, he added.
Labs are required by law to disclose information about each marijuana sample including:
• Levels of compounds such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), tetrahydrocannabinol acid (THCA) and cannabidiol (CBD).
• Any contaminants such as arsenic, lead, cadmium or mercury.
• Any pesticides regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and solvents or contaminants in those solvents.
• Any visible foreign material such as hair, mold, insects, metal or plastic.
• Moisture content of plant material.
• Microbiological impurities.
Up to 16 dispensaries could open soon in Hawaii, which will, for the first time since medical marijuana was legalized in 2000, give the state’s roughly 14,000 patients a way to legally buy medicine. Historically, patients have had to either grow it themselves or obtain it from a caregiver.
Dispensaries will be operated by eight initial licensees including two on the Big Island. Each licensee can operate up to two production centers and two retail dispensary locations. Hawaii Island’s licenses were awarded to former banana farmer Richard Ha of the company Lau Ola and retired Waimea attorney Shelby Floyd, who applied under the company Hawaiian Ethos LLC. Ha previously announced plans to open in early 2017.
Any marijuana sold at dispensaries also will have to meet stringent packaging requirements. For example, law requires all cannabis to be sold in non-transparent, child-resistant packaging labeled with black lettering on a white background with no pictures or graphics.
Packaging also must include information about the contents and potency of the marijuana inside, instructions for use and warnings such as “this product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming” and “smoking is hazardous to your health.”
Dispensaries also are forbidden from advertising through any media including television, the internet, social media or newspapers.
Prior to opening, dispensaries also must have their production center locations and retail locations pass state inspection to determine compliance with zoning requirements — for example, they can’t be located within 750 feet of schools, playgrounds or public housing complexes.
Okubo said last week every licensee has had “an initial inspection to ensure the production centers and retail locations comply with zoning requirements”; however, “no retail location has been given final approval” and “compliance with other applicable state and county laws remain to be verified.”
“Licensees are continuing to work with DOH and other agencies to obtain all required approvals to move forward with cultivation, processing and product sales for medical marijuana,” Okubo said, adding the process is “multi-tiered” and “requires balancing many moving parts to establish a program that handles a product that remains classified as an illegal substance under federal law.”
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
