As the headlines continue to heat up with news about adult-use marijuana, let Prime Wellness of PA be your navigator for the sea of information coming out with our new “Budding News” series. Each installment will alert you to the latest developments in the marijuana space, keeping you in the know and well-equipped to make informed, legal purchases.
Today, we’ll walk through the latest bipartisan legislation that has proposed changes to the Pennsylvania medical marijuana program, potentially eliminating the list of 23 qualifying conditions, patients must register under and waiving card renewal.
Efforts Across the Aisle
As the Commonwealth program currently stands, Pennsylvania residents can be certified for medical marijuana use by a qualified physician if they are diagnosed with one of 23 qualifying conditions — including chronic pain, anxiety, epilepsy, and IBD, among others. Senators Mike Regan (R-Cumberland/York) and James Brewster (D-Allegheny) are working on bipartisan bills that would nix the list of 23 qualifying conditions in Pennsylvania’s program and allow qualified physicians to certify patients for medical marijuana cards at their own discretion. As the senators have expressed, the goal of this proposed legislation is to make medical marijuana more accessible to a greater number of local patients with “a safe, trustworthy product that is not cost prohibitive.”
The Senators’ plans for the program would also do away with the annual card renewal process. Presently, patients must complete their card renewal process within 30 days of their card’s listed expiration date to avoid any lapse in being able to enter medical dispensaries. The process involved paying a $50 renewal fee to the Department of Health via your patient portal, and meeting with a qualified physician to ensure current eligibility for medical marijuana certification. Brewster and Regan agree that these proposed updates would enable the Pennsylvania medical marijuana program “to thrive and better serve its patients.”
Patients prime’d for Change
Prime Wellness is a proud member of the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, a trade organization that advocates for Commonwealth marijuana legislation that makes sense for today’s patients and industry workers, and potential adult-use consumers in the future.
Commonwealth medical marijuana patients, who are prime’d for change can advocate for more progressive policies in Pennsylvania by joining in the Cannabis Coalition’s efforts. An excellent resource on their website is publicly accessible survey results for Pennsylvania legislators, which provides access to each political candidate’s standpoint on cannabis-related issues. Visit the survey results here on the Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition’s website to make informed polling decisions during this pivotal moment in medical marijuana history.
