Pa. sets 2nd round of medical marijuana permits

Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program will soon take applications for a second, and likely final, round of permits to cultivate medical marijuana and dispense medical marijuana oils, tinctures, liquids, pills and topicals.

In this round, two grow/process permits will be issued in each of the state’s six regions with the 13th permit going to the highest-scoring applicant. Dispensary permits also will be geographically based with up to four permits issued in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Once the successful applicants are named, though, the program will have reached the maximum number of permits allowed under the 2016 law. After that, no further permits will be issued unless a current permit holder withdraws.

Southwestern Pennsylvania’s two grow/process permit holders — Cresco Yeltrah’s facility in Brookville, Jefferson County, and AgriMed’s operation in Carmichaels, Greene County — have state approval to operate, with Cresco the only one shipping product at present.

The Pittsburgh region also has two dispensaries open — one in Squirrel Hill and the other in Butler.

Sam Britz, chief operating officer for Solevo Wellness Center dispensary in Squirrel Hill, said Thursday that operation is “very seriously” considering applying for additional dispensary permits. “We’re considering all of our options.”

Cresco Yeltrah, which operates the Butler dispensary, has indicated it intends to apply for additional dispensary permits in the second round. The Cresco group also expects to open a second dispensary in the Strip District in about three weeks under its current permit.

Permit applications for the second round will be available beginning April 5 and

completed submissions must be postmarked no later than May 17.

To date, 25,573 patients have registered for the program and 7,000 people have purchased a medical marijuana card after being certified as having one of the 17 qualifying medical conditions. A total of 6,683 people have made purchases so far.

A Department of Health spokeswoman on Thursday said with the first round successfully underway, “Phase two will build on that progress and fully implement the program.”

Phase two will include up to eight permits that will be issued for clinical registrants. These are groups who already hold a grow/ process or dispensary permit and who will conduct research projects approved by the state.

Also, the state will be accepting applications from “academic clinical research centers” that either operate or partner with an acute care hospital. Approved centers will do research on the safety and efficacy of medical marijuana.

This second round of permits may not be the only change on the horizon.

On April 9, the 15-member medical marijuana advisory board will vote on its final recommendations to the Secretary of Health regarding possible changes to the program.

Last month, physician and advisory board member William Goldfarb indicated the board “will probably” recommend allowing patients access to marijuana flower, currently prohibited, for vaporization. The board is also looking at adding to the number of qualifying medical conditions beyond the current list of 17.