HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Health today announced GTI Pennsylvania, LLC, Montour County; and Pennsylvania Medical Solutions, LLC, Lackawanna County, have been approved to begin growing and processing medical marijuana at their facilities.
“Pennsylvania now has six grower/processors that are fully operational, bringing us one step closer to providing medical marijuana to patients,” Governor Wolf said. “We expect more grower/processors to become operational in the coming days. The program is moving forward to deliver medication to patients with serious medical conditions in the next few months.”
In order to become operational, the grower/processors underwent several inspections from the Department of Health. The facilities also are fully integrated with the seed-to-sale tracking system. The grower/processors will now be able to begin accepting seeds and clones to grow medical marijuana.
“More than 9,300 patients have registered to participate in the program, and are in the process of visiting an approved practitioner to get their patient certification,” Acting Health Secretary and Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine said. “More than 200 physicians have been approved as practitioners, with nearly 300 more going through the process.”
The Medical Marijuana Program was signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf on April 17, 2016. Since that time, the department has:
- Completed the Safe Harbor temporary guidelines and Safe Harbor Letter application process, as well as approved more than 300 applications;
- Completed temporary regulations for growers/processors, dispensaries physicians and laboratories, all which have been published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin;
- Issued permits to grower/processors and dispensaries;
- Developed the Medical Marijuana Physician Workgroup;
- Approved four training providers for physician continuing education;
- Approved two laboratories to test medication before it is delivered to patients;
- Launched the Patient and Caregiver Registry; and
- Continue to work with permittees to ensure they will be operational within six months.
The Medical Marijuana Program became effective on May 17, 2016, and is expected to be fully implemented by 2018. The program will offer medical marijuana to patients who are residents of Pennsylvania and under a practitioner’s care for the treatment of a serious medical condition as defined by the Medical Marijuana Law.
Questions about the Medical Marijuana Program can be emailed to RA-DHMedMarijuana@pa.gov. Information is also available on the Department of Health website at www.health.pa.gov.
Source: Governor’s Office of Communications
