Get Your Hawaii Medical Marijuana Card in Minutes

Hawaii has had a medical marijuana program for quite some time, starting in 2000. However, accessing medical cannabis was tricky, and patients and caregivers had to grow their own if they wanted their medicine.

Patients or caregivers can grow up to 10 mature plants. Patients can designate a grower on their application. Each plant should be tagged at the base with the patient’s 329 Card number.

They can register their grow site information as part of the application, including filling out a grow site certification.

Plants must be kept at the patient’s or designated caregiver’s residence or another site owned or controlled by either of those people.

It wasn’t until 2015 that Hawaii’s dispensary program was established, and the first dispensary began operating in 2016.

Timeline of Events

• 2000 – Governor Ben Cayetano signs Act 228 into law.
• 2015 – Act 241 is passed, legalizing medical marijuana dispensaries in Hawaii.
• 2016 – Senate Bill 321 (SB 321) established a dispensary system, allowing eight dispensaries in the state designated by the island.
• 2016 – Governor David Ige signs Act 228, creating a pilot program allowing the Hawaii Department of Agriculture to oversee the cultivation of industrial hemp for agricultural or academic research.
• 2017 – The first legal dispensary sale took place in Maui.
• 2019 – Governor David Ige announced that he would let a legislature-passed bill to decriminalize small amounts of cannabis become law without signing it.
• 2021 – Decriminalization of cannabis. Possession of three grams or less of marijuana is punishable by a $130 fine, up to 30 days in jail, and a fine of up to $1,000.
• 2021 – Recreational cannabis legalization bill fails to make it past the House of Representatives.

Non-medical adult use of cannabis is illegal in Hawaii. Possession of three or fewer grams of cannabis flower is decriminalized.

Caregivers may only serve one patient at a time. There is no registration fee for caregivers. Patients must designate a caregiver on their application form if they need one. Beginning in 2024, caregivers will not grow medical cannabis except for minors/adults lacking legal capacity and on islands that do not have a dispensary.

An out-of-state qualifying patient and caregiver may register with the Hawaii health department as an out-of-state patient if they are on the islands for fewer than 120 days per year.

This reciprocity is one key benefit for medical marijuana users. Unlike recreational cannabis users, medical marijuana users with a medical marijuana card can travel to some other states and purchase the medical marijuana they require while they are out of state.

Cardholders from other states can register for an Out-of-State Patient (OSP) card by completing paperwork and submitting a $49.50 fee.

OSP General Information

• The application process is completed online by creating a medmj.ehawaii.gov account.
• OSPs may apply for up to two 60-day terms in a calendar year.
• A start date is required for the term to begin.
• You may apply 60 days before the requested start date.
• The application fee is $49.50 and is non-refundable.
• Electronic access to the Hawaii 329 Registration card will be provided upon approval via your medmj.ehawaii.gov account.
• Minors can apply for an OSP, too.

OSP Requirements

1. Valid medical cannabis registration card issued by another U.S. state, territory, or District of Columbia government.

• • If your home state’s medical cannabis card does not have the expiration date on it (e.g., New York), please upload additional documents that state the expiration date of your registration in the “other documents” section in the Hawaii online application.
  • Physician certifications or recommendations are not accepted in place of state government-issued medical cannabis cards.

2. Valid government-issued state ID or driver’s license from the same U.S. state, territory, or District of Columbia with the same name on the medical cannabis registration card.

3. Certified in your home state as having one or more debilitating medical conditions identified in Hawaii State Law