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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
04/19/2024 09:56 AM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=18649
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House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: June 26, 2015 04:23 PM
From: Representative Ron Marsico and Rep. Sheryl M. Delozier, Rep. Mike Regan
To: All House members
Subject: Medical Cannabis
 
In the near future, we will be introducing legislation to permit the use of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania in a controlled fashion.

The issue of medical marijuana has been a high priority of the House Judiciary Committee for many months now. So much so that the House Republican Leadership team requested that we host hearings on the topic in order to gather as much information as possible. There were dozens of testifiers and hundreds of pages of testimony submitted by those who couldn’t personally participate in the hearings.

This legislation would permit the use of medical marijuana within the Commonwealth. Based on information learned during the committee’s hearings and statutes enacted in other states, this legislation would:

  • Establish a medical marijuana program to be administered by the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
  • Permit a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy to certify that a patient may use medical marijuana if they are suffering from a serious medical condition. A serious medical condition includes cancer, HIV/AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies and Huntington’s disease.
  • Authorize the department to issue counterfeit-proof identification cards to patients and caregivers who may then go to a dispensary owned by a medical marijuana organization to obtain medical marijuana.
  • Authorize the department to register as many as five medical marijuana organizations. A medical marijuana organization will grow, process, distribute and sell medical marijuana. Each medical marijuana organization may operate no more than four dispensaries, which are to be wholly owned and operated by the medical marijuana organization. The dispensaries must be geographically disbursed throughout the Commonwealth.
  • Establish an excise tax to apply to the sale of medical marijuana, to be paid by medical marijuana organizations. The tax may not be passed onto the patient or caregiver.
  • Provide that all fees and taxes be deposited into a Medical Marijuana Program Fund established in the State Treasury. The fund will pay the cost of running the program, as well as for medical research related to the safety and use of medical marijuana. It will also provide grants to district attorneys’ offices, municipal police departments and the Pennsylvania State Police through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and pay for drug and alcohol abuse programs within the Commonwealth.
  • Establish criminal penalties for diversion of medical marijuana, the falsification of identification cards and the adulteration of medical marijuana.
  • Clarify that no patient, caregiver, medical marijuana organization, or practitioner shall be subject to arrest or penalty or denied any right or privilege for lawful use of medical marijuana.
  • Allow medical marijuana to be administered through vaporization or in oil or pill form. Smoking and edibles will be prohibited. Strict limits and testing requirements will apply to the amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, which must be disclosed through plain labeling of medical marijuana products. The bill provides a process for the recall of defective or inaccurately labeled medical marijuana.
  • Require medical marijuana organizations to adopt and maintain security, tracking, recording-keeping and surveillance systems related to medical marijuana. It also requires real-time inventory tracking from seed-to-sale.
  • Charge the department with the responsibility of providing a written report every two years describing the implementation of the act, an assessment of the benefits and risks to patients receiving medical marijuana, and any recommendations for amendments to the law.

This legislation is a different approach than what has been offered so far in Pennsylvania. We know that not everyone will be pleased with this approach. It will be too narrow for some, and too expansive for others. But we feel that this measure allows us to build a real consensus in the legislature and start a medical marijuana program in Pennsylvania. If successfully implemented, the program can be expanded or contracted in the future, to adjust for changing medical knowledge and public comfort in allowing safe medical marijuana access. We believe that Senate Bill 3, while motivated by genuine compassion, is not satisfactory legislation for some and does not go far enough towards implementing a responsible, narrow, regulated piece of legislation that allows the medical use of medical marijuana while taking special precautions against abuse or diversion of marijuana for non-medical purposes.

This legislation truly provides a good middle ground and is truly compromise legislation. We believe it will allow us to safely implement the use of medical marijuana in this state. The language has been carefully drafted to ensure smooth implementation and reach our goal of helping those who so desperately need it.

Please join us in co-sponsoring this important legislation.


Introduced as HB1432