The governor of Pennsylvania on Wednesday signed medical marijuana legislation that extends certain policies that were temporarily enacted during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
Under the legislation, cannabis curbside deliveries will continue, patients can obtain a 90-day\u2014rather than 30-day\u2014supply for cannabis and the cap on the number of patients that a caregiver can serve would also be removed indefinitely.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been five years since Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana, and in that time the Department of Health has examined the program\u2019s successes and challenges and made important recommendations on improving the law,\u201d Gov. Tom Wolf (D) said<\/a> in a press release. \u201cThis legislation provides important updates to our state\u2019s medical marijuana program to ensure that patients have improved access to medication.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, @GovernorTomWolf<\/a> signed legislation that will provide important updates to Pennsylvania\u2019s Medical Marijuana Act to ensure better access for patients. https:\/\/t.co\/iXEhwiolVv<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Office of the Governor (@GovernorsOffice) June 30, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n HB 1024 also keeps in place COVID-19 temporary policies that loosened restrictions on criminal background checks for medical cannabis workers. And patients can still be certified to participate in the program by a physician remotely via telehealth.<\/p>\n Sponsors also argue that the measure will create jobs because it incorporates hemp growers into the medical marijuana supply chain.<\/p>\n While advocates are encouraged by these provisions being codified, they remain frustrated that the GOP-controlled legislature rejected an amendment from Sen. Sharif Street (D)<\/a>\u00a0that would\u2019ve allowed patients 21 and older to cultivate up to five plants for personal use. That would\u2019ve marked a notable expansion of the state\u2019s existing program through which cannabis is only legally available from dispensaries.<\/p>\n Under the measure, cultivation would\u2019ve had to take place in an \u201cenclosed and locked space,\u201d and patients would\u2019ve needed to \u201ctake reasonable precautions to ensure that the plants are secure from unauthorized access, including unauthorized access by an individual under 21 years of age.\u201d<\/p>\n Further, only patients or caregivers would\u2019ve been able to tend to the plants. And violating the measure by growing more than five plants, selling or giving them away would\u2019ve resulted in the loss of home cultivation privileges, as well as other penalties prescribed under the law.<\/p>\n Some advocates are also concerned about another provision of the now-signed bill<\/a> that allows businesses to remediate contaminated marijuana products and sell them after an independent lab confirmed they were restored. But that\u2019s a fairly common practice among legal states.<\/p>\n Street was able to attach language providing financial assistance to low-income patients to the bill, however, and he said he is \u201cencouraged\u201d that GOP lawmakers supported that change even though they blocked the separate home cultivation amendment.<\/p>\n \u201cAccessibility and cost have been a burden to patients for too long. We took a crucial step towards helping many access this medicine,\u201d he told Marijuana Moment. \u201cWe still have work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Advocates are disappointed by the Senate\u2019s rejection of home grow rights for patients, though, and they\u2019re still also closely following broader adult-use legalization proposals.<\/p>\n Two Pennsylvania lawmakers are\u00a0actively circulating a memo to build support<\/a>\u00a0for a legalization bill they plan to introduce shortly, for example.<\/p>\n This comes as a bipartisan Senate duo is also in the process of crafting legislation to legalize cannabis across the commonwealth. Street and Sen. Dan Laughlin (R)\u00a0announced some details of the proposal earlier this year<\/a>, but the bill has yet to be formally introduced.<\/p>\n Street told Marijuana Moment last week that the two are still \u201cfinalizing language\u201d of the legalization measure but will introduce it before the end of this session.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Laughlin joined his Republican colleagues in voting to table Street\u2019s home cultivation amendment.<\/p>\n Separately,\u00a0two<\/a>\u00a0bills<\/a>\u00a0to decriminalize cannabis alone were introduced in the GOP-controlled House and Senate in January, but they\u2019ve yet to receive hearings in the committees to which they were referred.<\/p>\n Outside the legislature, the governor said earlier this year that marijuana legalization was a priority<\/a>\u00a0as he negotiated the annual budget with lawmakers. However, his formal spending request didn\u2019t contain legislative language to actually accomplish the cannabis policy change.<\/p>\n Wolf has repeatedly called for legalization and pressured the Republican-controlled legislature to pursue the reform<\/a>\u00a0since\u00a0coming out in favor of the policy in 2019<\/a>. Shortly after he did that, a lawmaker filed a separate bill to\u00a0legalize marijuana through a state-run model<\/a>. A new version of that\u00a0proposal<\/a>\u00a0was refiled in the current legislative session.<\/p>\n Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D),\u00a0who is running for U.S. Senate<\/a>, previously led a\u00a0listening tour across the state<\/a>\u00a0to solicit public input on legalization. He\u2019s credited that effort with helping to move the governor toward embracing comprehensive reform. The lieutenant governor even\u00a0festooned his Capitol office<\/a>\u00a0with marijuana-themed decor in contravention of a state law passed by the GOP-led legislature.<\/p>\n Fetterman has also been actively involved in encouraging the governor to exercise his clemency power for cannabis cases while the legislature moves to advance reform.<\/p>\n Last month,\u00a0Wolf pardoned a doctor<\/a>\u00a0who was arrested, prosecuted and jailed for growing marijuana that he used to provide relief for his dying wife. That marks his\u00a096th pardon for people with cannabis convictions<\/a>\u00a0through the Expedited Review Program for Non-Violent Marijuana-Related Offenses that\u2019s being run by the Board of Pardons.<\/p>\n Overall, legalization is popular among Pennsylvania voters, with 58 percent of residents saying\u00a0they favor ending cannabis prohibition<\/a>\u00a0in a survey released in April.<\/p>\n Another poll released last month found that a majority of voters in the state also\u00a0support decriminalizing all currently illicit drugs<\/a>.<\/p>\n North Carolina Senators Approve Medical Marijuana Bill In Committee<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Pennsylvania Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Expansion Bill Into Law<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The governor of Pennsylvania on Wednesday signed medical marijuana legislation that extends certain policies that were temporarily enacted during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Under the legislation, cannabis curbside deliveries will continue, patients can obtain a 90-day\u2014rather than 30-day\u2014supply for cannabis and the cap on the number of patientsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48575"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48575"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48576,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48575\/revisions\/48576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Pennsylvania Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Expansion Bill Into Law<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"