Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program
The Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program gives state residents with serious medical conditions legal access to medical marijuana. Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 16, the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act, into law on April 17, 2016, establishing the program. The first dispensaries in Pennsylvania opened to patients in February 2018.
To participate in Pennsylvania's Medical Marijuana Program, patients must be Pennsylvania residents and have an approved serious medical condition.
Patients first register with the state's Patient and Caregiver Registry, which requires a valid Pennsylvania driver's license or state-issued ID card. They then see a practitioner approved to participate in the program, who can issue a certification if the patient meets the program's certification requirements.
Once certified, patients pay the applicable fee for their PA medical marijuana ID card. After the card arrives, they can purchase medical marijuana from Pennsylvania dispensaries.
Pennsylvania dispensaries offer medical marijuana in several forms, including pills, oils, tinctures, topical products, liquids, and dry leaf or flower. Dry leaf or flower may be used by vaporization; Pennsylvania law prohibits smoking medical marijuana. Dispensaries are not permitted to sell medical marijuana in edible form, although patients and caregivers may incorporate medical marijuana into edible form to aid ingestion.