Ex-Prosecutor, Caregiver to Lead Hawaii’s MMJ Program

A former prosecutor and medical cannabis caregiver will be the inaugural head of Hawaii’s medical marijuana dispensary system.

Margaret “Peggy” Leong served as Hawaii’s deputy attorney general from 1997 to 2007, according to Pacific Business News. Leong has provided legal advice for Hawaii’s Human Services, Health, and Education departments, as well as the state Housing Division, and worked in the private legal sector. For the past eight years, Leong has been a church parish administrator.

She also took care of a family member with medical cannabis, she told the paper.

The Hawaii State Department of Health, which administers the Medical Use of Marijuana Program, also wants to hire two surveyors to oversee the state’s dispensary system, as well as an accountant and a secretary, the paper reported. The state also needs to find a software contractor to build a seed-to-sale tracking system, akin to those used in Colorado and Washington State.

The state’s interim industry rules will be published Jan. 4, while the business license application period will run between Jan. 11 and Jan. 29.

Up for grabs are eight licenses which will be located on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. Each licensee may run two production centers and two retail stores, and can begin dispensing in July 2016, pending state approval.