Robert Celt
New Member
A state Senate committee on Monday approved the bill that would legalize medical marijuana for patients suffering from well over a dozen illnesses. The full Senate is expected to vote on Tuesday.
Yet many things are uncertain.
The Senate committee approved an amended version of the legalization bill that recently passed the House. Sen. Mike Folmer, the primary sponsor, characterized the amendments at "technical" adjustments to allow smoother implementation of a sprawling medical marijuana program that will entail things including licensing growers, processors and dispensers, issuing cards to qualified patients, and certifying doctors who want to recommend medical marijuana for patients.
The uncertainty centers on whether the House will accept such amendments, and whether sending the bill back to the House will invite more of the delays that followed the Senate's first passage of the bill nearly a year ago.
Some committee members expressed those concerns, and were told Senate leaders are working closely with House leaders and believe the House is OK the changes, and shares a goal of final passage before the House goes on break at the end of the week.
Committee members were also assured that if it turns out the House seems unlikely to approve the changes, the Senate will still have the option of accepting the House-passed version, and allowing Gov. Tom Wolf to sign the bill into law by the end of the week.
According to the basic components of the bill, SB 3, medical marijuana could be used to treat more than a dozen conditions, including seizures, PTSD, chronic pain, HIV/AIDs, glaucoma, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, and some other neurological and gastrointestinal conditions.
It would be regulated by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, but a separate board within the department would devise regulations and be responsible for things such as adjusting the list of conditions that can be treated with medical marijuana, and adjusting consumption methods.
Medical marijuana could be dispensed in forms including pills, creams, oils, liquids and forms that can be vaporized, but smoking of medical marijuana isn't allowed.
The state would initially license up to 25 growers/processors and and 50 dispensaries, with each dispensary allowed to have up to three locations. Medical marijuana would be taxed five percent at the wholesale level, and there would be a program to make sure it's affordable for the poor.
Medical marijuana will have to grown within indoor, highly secure facilities. Patients, after a recommendation from their doctor, would need-state issued cards, as would their caregivers. Doctors and others in the prescribing and dispensing process will have to undergo training.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: PA: Medical Marijuana Bill Inches Forward, Yet Path Still Cloudy
Author: David Wenner
Contact: PennLive
Photo Credit: None found
Website: PennLive
Yet many things are uncertain.
The Senate committee approved an amended version of the legalization bill that recently passed the House. Sen. Mike Folmer, the primary sponsor, characterized the amendments at "technical" adjustments to allow smoother implementation of a sprawling medical marijuana program that will entail things including licensing growers, processors and dispensers, issuing cards to qualified patients, and certifying doctors who want to recommend medical marijuana for patients.
The uncertainty centers on whether the House will accept such amendments, and whether sending the bill back to the House will invite more of the delays that followed the Senate's first passage of the bill nearly a year ago.
Some committee members expressed those concerns, and were told Senate leaders are working closely with House leaders and believe the House is OK the changes, and shares a goal of final passage before the House goes on break at the end of the week.
Committee members were also assured that if it turns out the House seems unlikely to approve the changes, the Senate will still have the option of accepting the House-passed version, and allowing Gov. Tom Wolf to sign the bill into law by the end of the week.
According to the basic components of the bill, SB 3, medical marijuana could be used to treat more than a dozen conditions, including seizures, PTSD, chronic pain, HIV/AIDs, glaucoma, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, and some other neurological and gastrointestinal conditions.
It would be regulated by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, but a separate board within the department would devise regulations and be responsible for things such as adjusting the list of conditions that can be treated with medical marijuana, and adjusting consumption methods.
Medical marijuana could be dispensed in forms including pills, creams, oils, liquids and forms that can be vaporized, but smoking of medical marijuana isn't allowed.
The state would initially license up to 25 growers/processors and and 50 dispensaries, with each dispensary allowed to have up to three locations. Medical marijuana would be taxed five percent at the wholesale level, and there would be a program to make sure it's affordable for the poor.
Medical marijuana will have to grown within indoor, highly secure facilities. Patients, after a recommendation from their doctor, would need-state issued cards, as would their caregivers. Doctors and others in the prescribing and dispensing process will have to undergo training.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: PA: Medical Marijuana Bill Inches Forward, Yet Path Still Cloudy
Author: David Wenner
Contact: PennLive
Photo Credit: None found
Website: PennLive
