Pennsylvania’s Medical Cannabis Program Celebrates First Birthday , 116K Patients With 1000 Physicians Approved To Certify Patients

Quietly Pennsylvania’s medical program has been put into play and although the market isn’t a CA or CO if the numbers are extrapolated from the patient base it’s a new steady tax revenue for the state and even better so for the likes of Canopy, Aurora et al.

The Philly Inquirer reports ( and thanks to Andrew sacks of Sacks Weston Diamond) for the tip

Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program celebrated its one year anniversary this week, racking up an impressive number of participating patients and doctors, sales, and a trickle of tax revenues for the treasury.

More than 116,000 Pennsylvanians have registered as patients. About 83,000 of those have been issued state medical marijuana cards which allow them to buy cannabis products from several dozen dispensaries operating across the state.

Nearly 1,000 physicians have been approved to certify patients to participate in the program, according to the Department of Health.

“Our goal for the next year and beyond is to increase the number of grower/processors and dispensaries operating, to register even more physicians, and to continue the growth of our scientific, medically based program,” said Secretary of Health Rachel Levine.

State dispensaries have completed nearly 600,000 medical marijuana transactions, grossing $132 million in total sales, according to Levine. The state also has collected more than $2 million in taxes on those sales.

“There has been steady, positive progress that I am pleased to report,” said Gov. Wolf in a statement issued Friday afternoon.

The process ground to a halt following lawsuits alleging unfair competition. They demanded a rewriting of the state regulations, and the rejection of all the aspiring producers’ applications for various reasons.

The Pa. Department of Health said it will give those companies a second chance and accept another round of applications “soon.”

When medical marijuana sales launched in February, the state only allowed dispensaries to sell processed cannabis oils, tinctures, and pills. By August, the Department of Health granted permission to vend the more traditionally smokable marijuana “flower.”

The state has approved 21 serious medical conditions — from autism to ulcerative colitis, PTSD to chronic pain — as qualifying conditions for patients to participate in the program. Levine is considering adding additional ailments, such as anxiety and Tourette’s syndrome, to the list.

The Pennsylvania program has far outstripped that of New Jersey’s. Since 2012, the Garden State has operated a limited medical program which was hobbled under former Gov. Chris Christie. Since the change of administration in Trenton in 2018, the size of New Jersey’s program has nearly doubled.

As of January 2019, there were about 40,000 qualified patients in New Jersey and just shy of 900 physicians who were authorized to write recommendations for the drug.

Source: https://www.philly.com/business/weed/pennsylvania-medical-marijuana-success-anniversary-patients-doctors-20190216.html

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