An Oregon-based nonprofit group plans next month to open O'ahu's first clinic devoted to signing up people for the state's medical marijuana program, a move that could significantly boost the number of patients certified for the controversial program.

The decision to open a clinic in Honolulu was prompted by the belief Hawai'i's medical marijuana program is underused, said Paul Stanford, executive director and founder of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, which operates similar clinics in Portland, Ore., and Seattle.

While there are 2,700 certified patients statewide — more than half of them on the Big Island — only 300 or so live on O'ahu. Some physicians apparently are reluctant to certify patients because of conflicting state and federal laws. In any case, the bulk of the Neighbor Island certifications are done by relatively few doctors.

The foundation's goal is to help certify 2,000 patients coping with conditions such as glaucoma, cancer and HIV in the first year and 4,000 to 5,000 in the second year, Stanford said, saying that foundation physicians now treat 8,300 patients at the Portland and Seattle clinics.

About 50 appointments are lined up for the Honolulu clinic's opening days, Stanford said. The clinic is expected to open Sept. 7 in a building on Kapi'olani Boulevard near Ala Moana Center. Staffed by a licensed physician and nurse practitioners, the clinic will assist patients having trouble finding a doctor willing to sign off on the program.

The standard fee for certification-related services is scheduled to be $250, but there will be a sliding scale down to $150 for those who can't afford the full amount. Stanford said less than half of the foundation's present patients pay full price.

Dr. Tom Orvald, a physician and former Hawai'i resident who works in the foundation's Seattle office, will fly to Honolulu one week a month to work at the clinic. Prospective patients must have current medical records that show a diagnosis of one of the qualifying medical conditions. The treatment is not covered by medical insurance.

Stanford said the staff will educate patients about the specifics of the state's medical marijuana law and about alternatives to smoking marijuana, including vaporization and eating foods cooked with marijuana.

The group is considering a plan to establish a garden where patients can grow the marijuana in a co-op setting, Stanford said. Some medical marijuana advocates had criticized the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation for planning to open a Honolulu clinic without providing a source of marijuana.

But Keith Kamita, administrator of the state's medical marijuana program, said he would be reluctant to allow the co-op a garden, saying that currently only one patient caregiver is allowed to grow marijuana in a single plot.

The state's five-year-old medical marijuana law allows patients to have three mature marijuana plants, four immature plants and an ounce of usable marijuana for each mature plant. The law does not specify how the medicine may be obtained.

Advocates say marijuana can, in some cases, be the only way for many chronically ill people, such as AIDS and cancer patients, to relieve their symptoms.

Reach Timothy Hurley at thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com.