Medical pot moves a step closer to reality

There was a lot of “buzz” last year when the Pennsylvania Legislature and Gov. Tom Wolf finally signed off on legislation to allow the use of medical marijuana in the Commonwealth.

Make no mistake, this was not Colorado. Pennsylvania was not legalizing the use of recreational pot, despite a fairly steady drumbeat from people who think they should.

This was serious medicine, with those under a doctor’s care being allowed to use medical marijuana to treat a variety of ailments, including children who suffer from autism, adults who have chronic pain, tremors and other maladies.

In fact, these specific uses do not even include marijuana that is smoked. Instead, the state sought to license a series of entities that will grow and process the weed. But before it is distributed to patients, it will be converted into creams, tinctures and ointments.

The state also is licensing dispensaries where the product will be sold to those with a doctor’s prescription.

In addition to the medical progress, there was a very real economic element to the medial marijuana era. Some experts expect the state could see as much as a $150 million annual revenue uptick from the medical marijuana biz.

To obtain a license to grow medical marijuana, prospective applicants first had to pony up some serious money in the initial fees.

More than 170 applicants ponied up a non-refundable $10,000 application fee for a shot at one of the licenses. They also needed to post a $200,000 deposit to show they had access to the state-required $2 million in capital to be eligible for the program.

Yesterday was decision day, and most proposals in the region got shut out.

The state handed out the first 12 applications for licenses to grow and process medical marijuana.

In Region 1, for the Southeast part of the state, two licenses were awarded. And both went to entities in Berks County.

The state Department of Health divided the Commonwealth into six regions. Each region was allotted two licenses.

The Southeast Region includes Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Berks, Lancaster, Schuylkill and Philadelphia counties. There were 45 applications submitted from this region alone.

Next up before the end of the month will be the initial licenses awarded to operate dispensaries. The state has received 280 applications for the dispensaries.

While disappointing that no operations in the fivecounty Philadelphia area was awarded one of these initial licenses, we should remember the overall positive aspect of what the state is doing, something that is long overdue.

And that is helping people with chronic pain and other serious health issues.

“This was a huge day for patients and for the people of Pennsylvania,” said state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, who was a main sponsor of the medical marijuana law enacted in April 2016. “We can see light at the end of the tunnel.” He’s right. Of course, this being Pennsylvania, the process does not come without a bit of controversy.

The process of doling out these lucrative licenses was not exactly transparent. The Health Department did not provide much in the way of information on who was actually making these decisions.

April Hutcheson, Health Department press secretary, defended the process, saying it was necessary to shield decision makers from lobbyists and others with an interest in the outcome. The scores of the applicants were made available on the department’s website.

And it was not lost on those who missed out on a license yesterday that one of the prized picks went to John Hanger, a former policy chief under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, and former chief of the Department of Environmental Protection under Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.

Those awarded licenses yesterday now have six months to become operational. Ultimately, the state plans for 25 growing operations.

We wish the runners-up better luck in the next round.

And to those awarded licenses yesterday, let’s hope they get this much-needed medical product into the hands of deserving patients as soon as possible.