State Rep. Marcus Oshiro of Oahu is pushing for another way to regulate Hawaii’s medical cannabis. Specifically, the physicians who recommend it.
State Rep. Marcus Oshiro of Oahu is pushing for another way to regulate Hawaii’s medical cannabis. Specifically, the physicians who recommend it.
Oshiro’s House Bill 1677 would establish a system to monitor doctors who provide medical marijuana certifications and track how many certifications they provide.
The bill points to one statistic as potentially alarming: About 90 percent of the state’s nearly 13,000 medical marijuana certifications are recommended by only 10 doctors.
“While it could be argued that these numbers reflect an unwillingness by the medical profession in Hawaii to make medical marijuana certifications, they also could be construed to indicate that certain physicians are over-recommending the use of medical marijuana beyond what is justifiable under the standards of care by the Hawaii medical board,” the bill reads.
The proposed law also would require the state’s medical board to conduct a periodic review of those physicians to investigate any potential misconduct, and require any disciplinary action for marijuana-related misconduct be included in an annual report.
Oshiro told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald he thinks it would provide some needed oversight and help monitor drug abuse.
“It’s to monitor for any abuse, similar to the same issue of overprescription of opiates or other powerful, addictive medicines,” he said.
“It’s more about safety, because we’re dealing with some powerful types of drugs,” he added.
Some have concerns. Matthew Brittain, a Hilo-based, licensed clinical social worker who works with a physician to help patients obtain certification, worries the proposed law would further discourage an already small number of doctors from prescribing medical cannabis.
“Any physician in the state can certify patients right now, the thing is, most won’t because of the stigma associated with marijuana,” he said. “If this bill goes through and there’s an additional level of government scrutiny on doctors, they’re not going to want to participate at all. It will seriously restrict access to doctors who will provide this service.”
The bill had its first reading and will get committee assignments next week.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com