Marijuana Policy Project

HONOLULU -- Hawaii legislators are assembling a group to study the state's medical marijuana laws after Gov. Linda Lingle said she wouldn't do so herself.

Hawaii's Democratic majority already overrode Lingle's veto of the medical marijuana task force, but the Republican governor is refusing to form the study group. Her administration has said the state must prioritize its limited resources.

Instead of the task force, an informal marijuana "working group" will study the issue instead.

The working group will include representatives from the Hawaii Drug Policy Forum, the American Civil Liberties Union and others.

It will research how to improve Hawaii's medical marijuana law, which licenses patients to use the drug but does not allow them to buy it.