The state House on Monday approved a set of revisions to Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana law, seeking to make permanent some of the changes put in place temporarily because of the coronavirus pandemic.Representatives voted 164 to 38 for the bill, which would permit dispensing a three-month supply at a time, up from one month’s supply. Patients will be able to continue to pick up their medicine outside a dispensary, rather than coming inside the building.Laurel Burke of McMurray, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, said she is elated about the legislative approval because she drives an hour each way to pick up her medicinal marijuana from the Healing Center in Cranberry Township.”It’s a blessing that I don’t have to come every month to get what I need,” Burke said. “I come once every three months instead of every month. It saves time, it saves energy.”However, state Health Department communications director Barry Ciccocioppo said the agency was concerned about provisions of the bill he said threaten product quality and patient safety.“We look forward to working with the legislature to resolve these concerns for the best interest of Pennsylvanians,” Ciccocioppo said.The legislation would also let caregivers provide help to more than five patients at once and would ease the process by which contaminants must be removed before the final testing. Grower-processors would be permitted to use pesticides under standards the Agriculture Department would develop.It would permit facilities to use motion detector activated security surveillance, rather than having the system running at all hours. Most Democrats supported the bill, while about a third of House Republicans were opposed. It was sent to the state Senate.
The state House on Monday approved a set of revisions to Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana law, seeking to make permanent some of the changes put in place temporarily because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Representatives voted 164 to 38 for the bill, which would permit dispensing a three-month supply at a time, up from one month’s supply. Patients will be able to continue to pick up their medicine outside a dispensary, rather than coming inside the building.
Laurel Burke of McMurray, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, said she is elated about the legislative approval because she drives an hour each way to pick up her medicinal marijuana from the Healing Center in Cranberry Township.
“It’s a blessing that I don’t have to come every month to get what I need,” Burke said. “I come once every three months instead of every month. It saves time, it saves energy.”
However, state Health Department communications director Barry Ciccocioppo said the agency was concerned about provisions of the bill he said threaten product quality and patient safety.
“We look forward to working with the legislature to resolve these concerns for the best interest of Pennsylvanians,” Ciccocioppo said.
The legislation would also let caregivers provide help to more than five patients at once and would ease the process by which contaminants must be removed before the final testing. Grower-processors would be permitted to use pesticides under standards the Agriculture Department would develop.
It would permit facilities to use motion detector activated security surveillance, rather than having the system running at all hours.
Most Democrats supported the bill, while about a third of House Republicans were opposed. It was sent to the state Senate.
