HARRISBURG, Pa. — Note: The video is from August 2020.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Wednesday signed legislation he said "will provide important updates to Pennsylvania's Medical Marijuana Act to ensure better access for patients," according to a press release issued by his office.
House Bill 1024 acts on recommendations made by the Department of Health to revise the Medical Marijuana Act, which was signed into law in 2016, Wolf's office said.
Specifically, it protects patient safety standards and product quality of Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program while empowering the Medical Marijuana Advisory Board to continue to consider new medical conditions for eligibility.
It will also retain certain flexibilities enacted under the state’s COVID-19 disaster declaration that patients and dispensaries found convenient, Wolf said.
Specifically, the disaster regulations allowed dispensaries to serve patients curbside and dispense up to three months' worth of marijuana to them at a time, according to an Associated Press report.
Before the pandemic began, medical marijuana dispensaries in Pennsylvania could only serve one month's worth of the drug at a time.
“It’s been five years since Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana, and in that time the Department of Health has examined the program’s successes and challenges and made important recommendations on improving the law,” Wolf said in the press release. “This legislation provides important updates to our state’s medical marijuana program to ensure that patients have improved access to medication.”