Honolulu cannabis manufacturing facility to produce free hand sanitizer

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Aloha Green Apoth says it wishes to help address the statewide shortage of anti-viral products for its medical cannabis patients.

HONOLULU - A local medical cannabis dispensary is now helping keep its clients healthy - in a new way. Aloha Green Holdings Inc., which does business as Aloha Green Apoth, says it "will use its cannabis concentrates production lines to produce large quantities of hydroalcoholic gels immediately."

These hand sanitizing gels will be available free of charge to 329 card holding patients at both Aloha Green Apoth dispensaries immediately. There will be a limit of one 1.7 oz. (50 ml) bottle of sanitizing gel per patient per day until it ramps up production. Aloha Green Apoth says its intention is to dedicate enough manufacturing lines to produce free hand sanitizer for Oahu’s first responders during the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to regulations, patients must have a valid 329 card to enter a retail dispensary. No purchase is necessary. Aloha Green Apoth reminds people that health authorities say soap and water is still the most effective method to cleaning your hands and avoiding infection, but that using a 60%-plus alcohol-based solution when soap and water is unavailable is also effective.

Aloha Green Apoth operates the largest state-of-the-art cannabis manufacturing lab in Hawaii. Aloha Green Apoth already has inventory of food grade ethanol, natural botanicals, and local aloe vera, which is normally used for the production of cannabis oils, hard concentrates, pills/lozenges and infused topical products. There is no cannabis or cannabis compounds in the free hand sanitizer, it assures.

According to the State of Hawaii Department of Health Medical Cannabis (329) Registry Program, in February 2020 the average age of a registered medical cannabis patient in Hawaii is approximately 52-years-old and all have an underlying medical condition which may include cancer, HIV/ AIDS, epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, chronic pain and ALS. This older patient population is vulnerable to COVID-19, especially since many must travel to one of five retail dispensary locations on Oahu as there is no delivery or curbside pickup option available.

“All our locations have a supply of hand sanitizer solution for employee and patient use. We have increased our sanitation procedures and implemented new social distancing procedures. Due to the recent reports of hoarding, outages and low supplies in Honolulu, we have decided to manufacture and provide bottles of hand sanitizer free of charge to vulnerable patients who are at increased risk,” states Aloha Green Apoth spokesperson TY Cheng.
CEO James Lee adds “Supporting our local community is a foundational goal for our company. Our cannabis medicines provide essential relief for so many patients and we hope patients will continue to feel safe at our dispensaries.”
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Aloha Green Apoth operates in Honolulu in the Interstate Building, and in Waikiki. More information on the State of Hawaii Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program statistics is available at: https://health.hawaii.gov/medicalcannabisregistry/submenu/program-statistics/.