A new medical cannabis dispensary has opened in the heart of Oahu’s tourism district.

The new facility is the second medical cannabis facility for Aloha Green Apothecary and the fifth dispensary on Oahu.

Officials had tourists in mind when they approved the Kalakaua Avenue facility. The dispensary will be an option for a growing number of registered medical cannabis patients visiting the islands, said Michele Nakata, supervisor of the Hawaii Department of Health Medical Cannabis Dispensary Licensing Program.

Waikiki Crosswalks Kalakaua Ave Kanekapolei. 31 july 2016
A new medical cannabis dispensary has opened on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki, Oahu’s tourism district. Cory Lum/Civil Beat

Out-of-state patient registration was approved in March, and in just five months, people from 25 states and the District of Columbia have been approved for temporary medical cannabis use in Hawaii.

“Since the start of our online visitor registration process, we have approved more than 1,000 out-of-state applications for patients traveling to Hawaii, and we anticipate this number to continue growing in the future,” she said.

Medical cannabis has been available in Hawaii since 2017, when Aloha Green opened its retail location. There are now a dozen facilities located across the state.

Hawaii is home to more than 26,700 medical cannabis patients and more than 2,100 registered caregivers. The most common conditions reported among patients is severe pain for adults and seizures for children under 18 years old.

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