Hawaii Cannabis Business License Checklist

If you are looking to submit an application to acquire a cannabis business license in Hawaii, the submission window set by the Hawaii Department of Health is January 12, 2016, through January 29, 2016. This checklist created by the cannabis consulting experts from Quantum 9 outlines items that must be completed to acquire one of the eight medical marijuana dispensary licenses in Hawaii and it will review things needed in any state submission, as well as Hawaii-specific requirements, pulled directly from HB 321. There are time sensitive requirements in the law that may render a submission unacceptable so be sure to complete them all. The tax clearance certificate and tax map key is due not more than thirty (30) days prior to the date of the application.

Medical Marijuana Dispensary License Checklist Hawaii

General Outline

• Recruit Core Team and Advisory Board
  • Chief Executive Officer: Someone with a Healthcare background or agricultural plant science background would be ideal.
  • Security Director: A former chief of police would be a good selection for this position.
  • Chief Financial Officer: It would be great to get a CFO on your team that is also a Certified Public Accountant, this individual might be able to perform the audited financials required by law.
  • Chief Operating Officer: A pharmaceutical operations director or CEO would be a great pick for this position.
  • Master Cultivator: This individual doesn’t necessarily need to have a huge cannabis background. Someone with a masters or Ph.D. in plant sciences or plant physiology, horticulture or a related field could pick up quickly from the engaged operating group. Five to Ten years of experience in an industrial setting is a must. Acquiring an individual from the industrial greenhouse industry has been successful in other territories.
  • Quality Assurance / Quality Control Director: Someone with laboratory, quality assurance, and recall experience would make an ideal candidate.
  • Compliance Director: An attorney that understands HB 321 and the published rules and regulations would be ideal but not required. Remember you want your application to be as inclusive as possible.
  • Medical/ Clinical Director: Someone licensed to practice medicine would be ideal.
  • Pharmacist: In the state of Hawaii it will be an uphill battle trying to get a reputable pharmacist to assume this position, try to acquire a pharmacist with only a few years experience.

• Establish a Commercial Realtor Relationship for Agricultural Land and Retail Locations
• Identify Site Locations
• Garner Local Community Support
• Establish a Security Vendor
• Establish a Relationship with existing Cultivation, Extraction, and Dispensary Operators
• Get Letters of Recommendation
• Establish Construction Contractor w/ Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Engineering Ability
• Establish Lobbying Relationship
• Speak with Local Fire/ Police and Local Municipality about Dispensary Project
• Visit Neighboring Businesses for Support – Get Letters of Recommendation
• Attend Town Hall Meetings
• Establish an Architectural Firm
• Establish Laboratory Relationship for Third Party Testing
• Obtain Special Use & Zoning Permits
• Establish Cannabis Consulting Firm Relationship (Suggested: Quantum 9)
• Establish Research Program with University or Hospital / Hospice
• Engage Local Business and Securities Attorney
• Establish Armed Transporter Relationship
• Establish Banking Relationship
• Determine Non-Profit or Community Benefits
• Obtain General Liability Insurance
• Establish Certified Public Accountant Relationship: Audit Financials of All Owners for last five years
• Register for a Business License

Hawaii Medical Marijuana Business Permit Specific Checklist

This section is based on the Hawaii published bill HB 321. Each application for a dispensary license shall include both an individual applicant and an applying entity. The medical marijuana consultants at Quantum 9 have added the bolded text.

Page Seven (7) of HB321 | Hawaii Medical Marijuana Business License

The application shall be submitted to the department and shall include supporting documentation to establish the following:

(1) That the individual applicant:

(A) Prove residency: Has been a legal resident of the State for not less than five years preceding the date of application;

(B) Provide identification: Is not less than twenty-one years of age; and

(C) Complete eCrim report per equity holder: Has had no felony convictions;

(2) That the applying entity:

(A) Obtain Hawaii business license: Has been organized under the laws of the State;

(B) Obtain Hawaii tax identification number: Has a Hawaii tax identification number;

(C) Obtain department of commerce and consumer affairs business registration division number and suffix: Has a department of commerce and consumer affairs business registration division number and suffix;

(D) Obtain federal employer identification number: Has a federal employer identification number;

(E) Ensure ownership of license: Is not less than fifty-one percent held by Hawaii legal residents or entities wholly controlled by Hawaii legal residents who have been Hawaii legal residents for not less than five years immediately preceding the date the application was submitted;

Page Eight (8) of HB321 | Hawaii Medical Marijuana Business License

(F) Prove finances: Has financial resources under its control of not less than $1,000,000 for each license applied for, plus not less than $100,000 for each retail dispensing location allowed under the license applied for, in the form of bank statements or escrow accounts, and that the financial resources have been under the control of the applying entity for not less than ninety days immediately preceding the date the application was submitted;

and

(G) Again, complete eCrim report on all equity owners: Is composed of principals or members, each of whom has no felony convictions.

Page Nine (9) of HB321 | Hawaii Medical Marijuana Business License

(C) Determine where the cashier’s check will come from: A non-refundable application fee of $5,000 for each license application shall be submitted to the department by certified or cashier’s check. Within seven days of approval, a dispensary license fee of $75,000 for each license approved shall be submitted to the department by certified or cashier’s check or the department shall issue a license to the next qualified applicant.

Page Ten (10) of HB321 | Hawaii Medical Marijuana Business License

(e) Make sure you get a receipt when you submit your application to the State: Immediately upon receipt of each completed application form, the department shall issue a receipt to each applicant that includes the date and time of receipt.

Applicants shall provide a minimum of the following information:

(1) Legal name and date of birth of individual applicant;

(2) Last four digits of individual applicant’s social security number;

(3) Validation code from an eCrim report for the individual applicant generated by the Hawaii criminal justice data center no earlier than December 12, 2015, at 8:00 a.m., Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time;

Page Eleven (11) of HB321 | Hawaii Medical Marijuana Business License

(4) Street address, telephone number, fax number, and email address of the individual applicant;

(5) Get tax clearance certificate by December 15^th, 2015: A tax clearance certificate issued by the department of taxation dated not more than thirty days prior to the date of the application;

(6) Name of the applying entity and any other name under which the applying entity does business, if applicable;

(7) Street address, telephone number, fax number, and email address of the applying entity;

(8) Date the applying entity was organized under the laws of Hawaii;

(9) A certified copy of the organizing documents of the applying entity;

(10) A copy of the applying entity’s bylaws;

(11) Federal employer identification number of the applying entity;

(12) Hawaii tax identification number of applying entity;

(13) Department of commerce and consumer affairs business registration number and suffix of the applying entity;

Page Twelve (12) of HB321 | Hawaii Medical Marijuana Business License

(14) Provide Names: Name(s) of all owners of the applying entity, in whole or in part, and their percentage of ownership;

(15) Identify Residency Dates: Date when continuous legal residence in Hawaii began for each Hawaii legal resident that owns a percentage of the applying entity;

(16) Identify Total Residency Percentage: Total percentage of the applying entity that is owned by Hawaii legal residents;

(17) Identify Location of License: Designation of the county for which the dispensary license applied for and proof that the required minimum financial resources of $1,200,000 are met;

(18) Identify Available Finances: Total dollar amount of financial resources under control of the applying entity in the form of bank statements or escrow accounts;

(19) Identify Control Date: Date from when financial resources have been continuously controlled by the applying entity; and

(20) Provide Bank Statements: Copies of the entity’s bank statements for the twelve months prior to the date of the application.

Page Sixteen (16) of HB321 | Medical Marijuana Business License

(h) Acquire Tax Map Key and Premises Leases by December 15^th, 2015: A dispensary shall provide the department with the address, tax map key number, and a copy of the premises lease, if applicable, of the proposed location of a production center allowed under a license for a county not later than thirty days prior to any medical marijuana or manufactured marijuana products being produced or manufactured at that production center.

Page Twenty (20) of HB321 | Medical Marijuana Business License

(2) Create Signage for Application: Post any signage other than a single sign no greater than one thousand six hundred square inches bearing only the business or trade name in text without any pictures or illustrations; provided that if any applicable law or ordinance restricting outdoor…

Page Twenty Two (22) of HB321 | Medical Marijuana Business License

(B) Open Lines of Credit including Credit Cards: Financial stability and access to financial resources; provided that applicants for medical marijuana dispensary licenses shall provide documentation that demonstrates control of not less than $1,000,000 in the form of escrow accounts, letters of credit, surety bonds, bank statements, lines of credit or the equivalent to begin operating the dispensary;

Page Twenty Three (23) of HB321 | Medical Marijuana Business License

Deliver this section to your local security provider.

(6) Security requirements for the operation of production centers and retail dispensing locations; provided that, at a minimum, the following shall be required:

(A) For production centers:

(i) Video monitoring and recording of the premises;

(ii) Fencing that surrounds the premises and that is sufficient to reasonably deter intruders and prevent anyone outside the premises from viewing any marijuana in any form;

(iii) An alarm system; and

(iv) Other reasonable security measures to deter or prevent intruders, as deemed necessary by the department;

Page Twenty Eight and Twenty Nine (28 & 29) of HB321 | Medical Marijuana Business License

-9 Manufacturing of medical marijuana products.

(a) Get State and County Permits: Any medical marijuana dispensary licensed by the department pursuant to this chapter shall be permitted to manufacture marijuana products; provided that the dispensary shall also obtain any other state or county permits or licenses that may be necessary for a particular manufacturing activity.

Page Forty Three and Forty Four (43 & 44) of HB321 | Medical Marijuana Business License

-22 Medical marijuana zoning.

(a) Medical marijuana production centers and dispensaries shall comply with all county zoning ordinances, rules, or regulations; provided that:

(1) Make Sure your Property is Agricultural: A medical marijuana production center shall be permitted in any area in which agricultural production is permitted except as provided within this chapter;

and

(2) Make Sure it is Zoned Correctly and is Far enough from Schools and Playgrounds: No medical marijuana production center or dispensary shall be permitted within seven hundred fifty feet of the real property comprising a playground, public housing project or complex, or school.

(b) As used in this section:

“Playground” means any public outdoor facility. Including any parking lot appurtenant thereto, that is intended for recreation. With any portion thereof containing three or more separate apparatus intended for the recreation of children, including but not limited to sliding boards, swing sets, and teeterboards.

“Public housing project or complex” means a housing project directly controlled, owned, developed, or managed by the Hawaii public housing authority pursuant to the federal or state low rent public housing program.

“School” means any public or private preschool, kindergarten, elementary, intermediate, middle, secondary, or high school.

The medical cannabis consultants at Quantum 9 have been submitting applications on behalf of clients since 2011. The Quantum 9 Cannabis Consulting Team’s overall success rate is at a staggering 91%.