Legal users soared to more than 8,000 over the past decade from 255 in 2001, the program's first year.

$38 million a year, with patients consuming an average of 1 ounce per month at a street price of $400.

It's a burgeoning business for doctors, who charge as much as $300 to certify medical marijuana patients. The consultation typically lasts an hour and often is not covered by medical insurance.

There were 175 physicians licensed to certify medical marijuana patients as of June, up from 35 in 2001, according to the Narcotics Enforcement Division of the state Department of Public Safety.

The state charges a $25 processing fee for a medical marijuana certificate. Patients are required to be certified annually.

Hawaii's medical marijuana law allows patients with a debilitating condition — such as cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, severe pain or nausea — to use the drug if they are certified by a physician registered with the state. It is still illegal to buy marijuana, but patients can grow it legally.

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State Sen. J. Kalani English will probably grab a few headlines when he introduces two bills in the legislative session this week: one to legalize medical marijuana dispensaries and the other to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

His marijuana reformation bills are modeled after laws already in place in other states. On Friday, the Democrat who represents Upcountry, East Maui, Lanai and Molokai said his motives are at once pragmatic, moralistic and economic.

The measures would free up law enforcement to focus on hard drug traffickers and help the state deal with Hawaii's fiscal year 2011 $1.2 billion budget shortfall on a number of fronts, English pointed out. He said he wasn't certain how much new revenue or costs savings, including for courts and jails, the proposals would make, but he was sure it would be significant.

On Friday, English said that he intends to follow California's lead by legalizing - and taxing - medical marijuana dispensaries to generate revenue. A dispensary is a private, secure facility where people with medical marijuana cards, which have been legal and available in Hawaii for almost a decade, can purchase marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Proponents say the dispensaries provide a safe environment to sell a legal product that provides real relief for those suffering from pain and nausea caused by diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis.

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