Pennsylvania marks 5-year anniversary of medical marijuana in state | Connect FM | Local News Radio

Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf over the weekend commemorated the fifth anniversary of Law 16 of 2016, better known as the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act, which introduced the Commonwealth’s medical marijuana program.

Nearly 553,000 patients and caregivers are enrolled in the program to receive medical marijuana for one of them 23 serious illnesses. There are more than 327,400 active certifications under the program.

“To mark the fifth anniversary of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program, we will continue to make progress in providing medicine to people with serious medical conditions,” said Governor Wolf. “The Ministry of Health’s work to ensure that products are available and that patients can receive medication as seamlessly as possible, especially during the pandemic, is exemplary.”

All 114 operational pharmacies are open and dispensing products to patients. 28 producers / processors are in operation, 23 send products to pharmacies. Many of these growers / processors have recently expanded or are in the process of expanding their location to ensure they are able to provide more products to those with any of the 23 serious medical conditions that are eligible for medical marijuana product use in Question come.

“In addition to the well-run medical marijuana program, the division takes great pride in its one-of-a-kind medical marijuana research program,” said Acting Sec. of health Alison Beam. “It is clear that the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program is one of the most successful programs in the country.”

The clinical research program led by Law 43 of 2018, enables eight clinical registrants, each of whom must have both a producer / processor and a pharmacy license. Clinical registrants must have a research contract with one in eight recognized academic clinical research centers.

Active cardholders continue to visit pharmacies more than once a month to seek treatment for a serious medical condition. More than 31.2 million products have been sold since the program began and total sales within the program are nearly $ 2.6 billion, including producer / processor sales to pharmacies and pharmacy sales to patients and caregivers . More than $ 1.5 billion in sales were made from pharmacies to patients.

More than 2,100 physicians have signed up for the program, of which more than 1,530 have been approved as practitioners.

“Since I signed the law, the success of the state medical marijuana program has been a tribute to the support patients and caregivers have received,” said Governor Wolf. “The commitment of patients and caregivers to provide advice and support is a testament to the value of this important program.”

As a sign of the program’s continued commitment to providing medical marijuana to patients, the program was temporarily suspended in March 2020 certain legal and regulatory provisions to improve access to this form of medication during the COVID-19 emergency to:

• Enable pharmacy staff to provide medical marijuana to cardholders in their vehicles on the facility’s property.
• Remove the current cap that limits the number of patients assigned to a caregiver to allow more caregivers for patients in need.
• Eliminate background checks on nurse requests that are limited to renewal requests only to expedite the nurse renewal process.
• Suspend face-to-face consultations and enable remote consultations between licensed physicians and medical marijuana patients. and
• Suspend the 30-day limit on medical marijuana dispensing by asking licensed physicians to record the patient’s certification in order to deliver a 90-day supply.
• Suspend the requirement that a doctor – doctor, pharmacist, medical assistant, or certified nurse – be on-site at the pharmacy during drop-off times for healthcare professionals to work remotely.

The statutory and regulatory suspensions remain in place as long as the disaster proclamation is in force.

For more information on the Medical Marijuana Program, visit www.medicalmarijuana.pa.gov or follow up on the Ministry of Health Facebook and Twitter.