Pennsylvania’s health secretary will approve of the medical cannabis program changes recommended by the state Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, including allowing flower sales and expanding the qualifying conditions list. Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said the flower products will be available this summer but said the products would be sold “in a form that can be vaporized, not smoked.”
What else was included in the recommendations: Allowing physicians to opt out of the publicly published list; eliminating the requirements for some patients to pay for cannabis registration cards more than once per year; and requiring that pediatric patients are certified by a pediatrician or pediatric specialist.
“Requiring children to see a pediatrician to participate in the program is an important recommendation, but we are going to delay implementation for at least a year to allow more pediatricians and pediatric specialists to join the program.” — Levine in a press release
The qualifying condition list now includes: cancer remission therapy, opioid-addiction therapy, neurodegenerative and spastic movement disorders, according to an Associated Press report.
More than 30,000 patients have registered with the state program, and more than 10,000 have received their identification cards. Nearly 1,000 physicians are signed up to recommend medical cannabis in the state.