Since the day medical cannabis was legalized in Hawaii more than two decades ago, the program has centered around the rights of patients and caregivers to grow their own marijuana.

But now, state health officials want to create new rules that would drastically restrict the number of people who could use the same grow site.

For many, including a 78-year-old cancer survivor named Nan, that could mean losing access to their medication.

Nan, who asked that only her first name be used, is a medical cannabis cardholder. She visits the farm where her plants are grown every 10 days.

“It’s a feeling of healing,” said Nan. “That I’m going to get better.”

Breast cancer could have claimed her life in 2019. She says soon after her diagnosis, one of the things that helped the most was an oil made from medical cannabis.