Are you wondering how to open a dispensary in Hawaii? This page offers up-to-date news and essential information crucial for anyone looking to start a cannabis company in the state. This contains insights about what is ahead in the future. For hands-on guidance, Cannaspire’s Cannabis consultants work with operators at every stage.
In Hawaii, using weed for recreation is still not allowed, but having three grams or less won’t get you into too much trouble, as it is decriminalized. The state gave the green light for using it medicinally back in 2000, all thanks to Act 228’s passing.
Even though things didn’t move forward much in the last legislative session, more and more people in Hawaii are getting behind the idea of letting adults use marijuana legally. According to a survey done in 2023, a solid 52% of Hawaiians are in favor of letting adults use marijuana, while only 31% are against it.
On March 5th, 2024, Hawaii’s Senate passed SB 3335, aimed at legalizing adult-use marijuana for those over 21 and establishing the Hawaii Hemp and Cannabis Authority. This bill allows regulated possession and cultivation and introduces taxation and criminal justice reforms, including expungement for specific offenses. After approval in the Senate with a 19-6 vote, it moved to the Hawaii House of Representatives. The House’s joint committees endorsed the bill on March 13th, 2024, allowing limited possession and home cultivation while amending regulations and penalties. Following this, on March 22nd, 2024, the House passed the bill with a 25-23 vote, sending it to the House Finance Committee. The legislation, aiming for full implementation by January 1, 2026, faced a setback. On April 2nd, 2024, House leaders halted the push to legalize recreational marijuana, prioritizing other legislative issues, notably recovery efforts from Maui’s wildfire. Advocates remain hopeful, planning to reintroduce improved legislation in the next session, focusing on public safety and health, and addressing the past harms of cannabis criminalization.
On April 22nd, 2024, the Hawaii Senate voted down SB2487, a bill that aimed at relaxing marijuana possession laws. This legislation would have increased the legal possession limit from 3 grams to 1 ounce and reduced penalties. Following the earlier defeat of a recreational marijuana bill, opponents of this decriminalization measure argued that it could adversely affect youth, discourage Asian tourists, fail to suppress the black market, and increase traffic accidents. Despite these setbacks, the legislature has been advancing an expungement pilot program aimed at clearing some marijuana-related criminal records, reflecting ongoing discussions about marijuana policy.
On June 27, 2025, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green signed House Bill 302 into law, marking a significant expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program. The new law broadens the pool of qualified patients and permits dispensaries to sell a wider range of products, effective July 1, 2025. House Bill 302 also authorizes licensed medical marijuana dispensaries to sell hemp products. However, this section will not take effect until January 1, 2028, giving regulators time to prepare for the new category of sales.
On January 21, 2026, key Hawaii legislators introduced companion bills to place an adult-use cannabis legalization question on the November 2026 ballot, HB 1624 and SB 2420. It would ask voters whether to legalize cannabis for adults 21+ and require the legislature to set up regulations. If approved by the required two-thirds of lawmakers and then by voters, the amendment would take effect in 2027, finally authorizing a regulated cannabis market in Hawaii and opening the door for new business licenses. (Notably, the same lawmakers also introduced separate bills, HB 1625 and SB 2421, to directly legalize and regulate cannabis statutorily in 2026.)
As per Statista’s prediction, it’s anticipated that by 2025, the value of marijuana sales in Hawaii will reach around 166.3 million U.S. dollars, underscoring the significant growth and economic impact the state’s cannabis industry is poised to generate.
Back in 2000, Hawaii made it all official and gave the green light to medical cannabis, giving the thumbs-up for registered patients to grow their weed or have a caregiver handle it. But there weren’t any legal shops or places to buy it back then.
In 2015, the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program was rolled out, and it came with some rules and regulations. So, if you wanted to get in on the program and qualify, you had to sign up and get yourself a Registration Card from the Department of Health. With that card in hand, you were officially allowed to acquire medical marijuana, as long as a doctor gave you the thumbs-up with their certification.
Act 241, which was approved in July 2015, made the Department of Health the administrator of the whole program and gave licensed dispensaries the green light to sell medical and manufactured marijuana products starting in July 2016.
To put up a dispensary system, Senate Bill 321 was passed in 2016, authorizing Hawaii’s Medical Cannabis Dispensary Program. The very first legit sale of medical cannabis at a dispensary went down in Maui in August 2017. Licensees are allowed to cultivate, manufacture, and dispense cannabis products, with each permitted up to two retail locations and three production centers. The Department of Health may approve additional retail sites in underserved areas if necessary. As of March 31, 2025, there were 29,780 in-state patients in Hawaii with a valid medical cannabis registration, according to a Data Report.
As of January 2025, eight medical cannabis dispensary licenses have been issued statewide, According to Hawaii MCDLP Annual Report. Each licensee may operate up to three production centers and two retail locations, and the Hawaii Department of Health may approve up to two additional retail locations per licensee to improve access in underserved areas.
Hawaii’s medical cannabis dispensary system is regulated by the Hawaii Department of Health through its Office of Medical Cannabis Control and Regulation. This office oversees licensing and regulatory activity for all medical cannabis production centers and retail dispensaries statewide.
The Department tracks licensing activity, facility counts, fee collections, and regulatory enforcement as part of its annual oversight responsibilities. This includes monitoring both production centers and retail dispensing locations operating under the state’s eight dispensary licenses.
Guidance on aligning with DOH expectations is available through experienced Hawaii cannabis consultants.
At the moment, the State Department of Health isn’t taking in any applications for medical cannabis dispensary licenses in Hawaii. Once applications start being accepted again, updates will be given in this section. While you wait, you can check the minimum qualifications for applicants below.
To be eligible for a dispensary license in Hawaii, applicants must meet certain state requirements:
To put forth an application for a dispensary license, it’s important to include both an individual applicant and an applying entity in the application.
To meet the requirements for a dispensary license, an individual needs to reach a minimum age of twenty-one years, maintain legal residency in the state for no less than five years before the application date, possess no felony convictions or any other background history that might disqualify them, and secure authorization from the applying entity to submit the license application while acting as the primary point of contact with the department.
To qualify as an applying entity, the entity must be organized under the laws of the state and have a Hawaii tax identification number. It should have a Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs business registration division number and suffix, as well as a federal employer identification number. The entity must be majority-owned by Hawaii legal residents or entities controlled by Hawaii legal residents with at least five years of residency. Financial resources of at least $1,000,000 for each license applied for, plus an additional $100,000 for each retail dispensing location, are required. All owners, principals, or members of the applying entity must be at least 21 years old and have no felony convictions or disqualifying background history.
When Hawaii reopens licensing, Cannaspire’s cannabis license application services can help you prepare a compliant, submission-ready dispensary application.
To open a dispensary in Hawaii, there are certain fees involved. These include an application fee of $5,000, which is non-refundable and must be submitted with each license application. Additionally, within seven days of receiving written notification of selection from the department, the chosen applicant must provide a dispensary license fee of $75,000. This payment should be made by certified or cashier’s check, payable to the State of Hawaii Department of Health.
In addition to the initial application and licensing fees, dispensary operators should budget for ongoing license renewal fees set by the Hawaii Department of Health, as well as required taxes on retail cannabis sales. These continuing costs are part of the long-term financial obligations of operating a licensed medical cannabis dispensary in Hawaii.
The 2023 legislative session in Hawaii began on January 18, 2023, with the Hawaii legislature commencing its legislative activities. During this session, there were several proposals regarding the legalization of cannabis being considered. However, on February 8, 2023, all three house proposals, namely HB 1216, HB 237, and HB 1425, failed to be scheduled for their first hearing before the referral deadline. This outcome officially marked the end of these bills’ consideration for the 2023 legislative session.
Following that, on March 16, 2023, cannabis adult use legalization bill, SB 669, also failed to receive a hearing in the House before a legislative deadline. The bill was effectively terminated for the year.
Advocates for cannabis legalization are now shifting their focus to the year 2026, aiming to bring about the desired reform during the second half of the two-year legislative session.
How many dispensary licenses are available in Hawaii?
As of the January 2025 DOH report there are still eight licensees operating under those original licenses.
Can an applicant apply for more than one dispensary license?
No. Current rules state that a person may not be granted more than one dispensary license, and the statute also bars any person from holding a dispensary license in more than one county.
Are cannabis dispensaries allowed to advertise in Hawaii?
Advertising is tightly restricted. Dispensary licensees are prohibited from advertising in broadcast, electronic (including most internet and social media), and print media such as radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, billboards, or transit ads.
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