Medical Cannabis Certification

Hawaiʻi residents with a valid ID may qualify for medical cannabis if they have a state-recognized qualifying medical condition or another condition that, in the judgment of a qualified medical provider, may benefit from medical cannabis.

Qualifying conditions include:

• ALS
• Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Lupus
• Multiple Sclerosis
• PTSD
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Chronic or debilitating conditions causing severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, persistent muscle spasms, or cachexia (wasting syndrome)

Visiting Hawaiʻi? Patients with a valid medical cannabis registration from another U.S. state or territory may be eligible to apply for a temporary Hawaiʻi Medical Cannabis Registry card, allowing them to purchase medical cannabis from licensed Hawaiʻi dispensaries during their stay.

Please note: Hawaiʻi medical cannabis laws and eligibility requirements may change. For the most current information, please visit the Hawaiʻi Department of Health Medical Cannabis Registry on its official website.

• With a medical cannabis certification, you can visit a dispensary and grow up to 10 plants, which must be tagged with your registration number and expiration date.
• Patients and caregivers can jointly possess up to 4 ounces of usable cannabis.
• A caregiver is required if you are a minor or have a condition that prevents you from visiting a dispensary or growing plants.

Click here to create your free online account.

Currently, the 329 card (medical cannabis card) is good for one year from the date it is originally issued.

After the first year of certification, you can choose to renew annually or every two years.

Medical Cannabis Certification Fees

Medical cannabis evaluations are billed to insurance whenever possible.

For patients whose insurance does not cover these services or who are uninsured, self-pay options may be available. Please contact our office to discuss your individual situation and any applicable fees before scheduling your appointment.

Please note that the Hawaiʻi Department of Health charges a separate state registration fee for participation in the Medical Cannabis Registry. This fee is paid directly to the State of Hawaiʻi. State fee: $38.50 (1-year) or $77 (2-year) paid online to the DOH.

Community Giving

As part of her commitment to compassionate end-of-life care, Dr. Charlotte Charfen provides complimentary medical cannabis evaluations for eligible hospice patients in North Hawaiʻi.

Click here to start your DOH application

Telemedicine is an internet-based video call that allows patients in rural areas or with limited access to receive healthcare. Dr. Charfen uses a HIPAA-compliant platform for secure consultations.

Hawaiʻi law has changed to allow medical cannabis evaluations and certifications, including first-time certifications and renewals, to be completed through telemedicine when appropriate.

If you have questions or would like to schedule a telemedicine medical cannabis evaluation, please contact our office.

Interestingly enough, it was not medical school that introduced me to the therapeutic benefits of cannabis although our own endogenous cannabinoids and receptors had been scientifically identified twelve years prior to my finishing medical school in 2000. The basic science was available, but there was no mention of cannabis as a medicine in my traditional classes.

Almost twenty years later, it was my desire to help the terminally ill and the dying, and those caring for them, that opened my mind to medical cannabis. How had I never entertained the benefits of cannabis for the dying? The opioid epidemic had already hit our country and I knew first hand all the side effects the narcotics brought with their pain-killing effects. But I thought that’s all the medicine we had. And who the hell wants to withhold painkillers while someone is dying?

I was not educated. I did not know the literature or the case studies and I certainly didn’t understand the political history that had removed an ancient healing medication from the pharmacopoeia, every doctor’s bible for pharmaceuticals. My patients again became my teachers and I vowed to educate myself.

At first, I was infuriated that healing information had been withheld and that our own government held a patent on a plant that they classified as a Schedule I drug, along with heroin and LSD. The hypocrisy and the lives imprisoned as well as lost that could have benefited from the medication was disturbing. But then it made me more determined, driving me to learn and then educate. And that is what I continue to do to this day. I am much better informed and hope to share that information with others as the science and the understanding evolves.

I also realized one important fact: the children, our veterans, and the dying are the ones to change our culture’s perspective on cannabis and its many medical benefits. They drove over 30 states to pass legislation making medical cannabis legal and numerous other states have some form of a medical cannabis bill waiting to be argued. And I dare say they have even swayed our federal government. Now I’m less infuriated and more hopeful that with this movement, the research, the science, and the legislation will catch up with what patients have been telling us for decades.

As a physician in a state where medical cannabis is legal, I still witness the ignorance among medical professionals and the general public that I once held when it comes to the benefits and the risks of medical cannabis. I certify because I truly believe everyone should have the knowledge and ability to use cannabis in holistically empowering their health, and the guidance to do so in a nonjudgmental environment.

Below are sites that provide additional information regarding medical cannabis.

Healer

Realm of Caring