Hawaii’s medical cannabis market reached a milestone with the opening of the state’s 25th dispensary.
The Hawaii health department awarded the MMJ business license to Cure Oahu, which opened the dispensary last week in Kailua, according to a news release.
“Cure Oahu’s new dispensary in Kailua will provide much-needed access to patients on the windward side of Oahu,” Liam Gimon, the health department’s dispensary licensing supervisor, said in a statement.
It’s the company’s third dispensary on Oahu, Hawaii’s most populated island. The others are in Honolulu and Kapolei.
With that opening, Oahu now has 10 dispensaries, the most of any Hawaiian island, according to the state health department.
Maui has seven medical marijuana dispensaries, Hawaii Island has six and Kauai two.
Hawaii’s first dispensary opened in 2017, on Maui, two years after the governor signed a law allowing medical marijuana retail opportunities.
As of Dec. 2, Hawaii had 30,035 registered in-state patients and 2,609 caregivers, including 14,798 patients and 1,463 caregivers on Oahu, according to health department data.
The primary qualifying condition for Hawaii MMJ patients continues to be severe pain, the agency noted.
