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Law Pennsylvania

A 'game-changer' for Pennsylvania medical marijuana; flower goes on sale next week
Medical marijuana dispensaries in Pennsylvania are bracing for a surge in new customers when vaporizable “flower” — the most popular and recognizable form of cannabis — goes on sale on Wednesday, Aug. 1.

“We’re expecting 300 to 400 patients at our Abington store the first day,” said Chris Visco, co-founder of TerraVida Holistic Centers. “People will likely be in line at 8 a.m. We’re hiring an extra security guard and an extra valet parking person. This is a game-changer.”

TerraVida, which also has outlets in Malvern and Sellersville, is among a handful of dispensary chains in the Keystone State that will get the first shipments of the whole-plant product. Gov. Wolf’s office confirmed the development late Thursday.

Wolf’s spokesman, J.J. Abbott, said several of the state’s growers were expected to start shipping the high-potency buds early on Sunday to about a dozen outlets, primarily in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh metropolitan regions. More stores are slated to come online later this month, he said.

Since the state’s medical marijuana program launched in mid-February, patients have grumbled about the limited selection of relatively expensive cannabis oils, pills and tinctures. Flower sales were prohibited.

The introduction of what the state Department of Health calls “dry leaf” into the mix will slash prices. It also provides a more familiar form of the medicine for patients who may be put off by the industry’s extraordinarily powerful waxes, shatter, and budder concentrates.

“The price point of the flower will be less than the concentrates because it doesn’t have to go through additional processing,” said Luke Schultz, a patient advocate who serves on the state’s medical marijuana advisory board. “We hope it will be at or slightly above what black market prices are, because the program should be designed to discourage people going to the black market.”

Dispensary owners said patients should expect to pay between $10 and $24 per gram, depending on the potency of the cannabis strain, and between $30 and $70 for an eighth of an ounce. The state has requested bud tenders to limit sales to each patient at 15 grams a week for the first two weeks.

“We’re trying to keep it affordable and not take advantage of anyone,” said Rob Stanley, manager of Restore Integrative Wellness Center in Fishtown, which is extending its business hours on Wednesday in anticipation of crowds. “Once the market grows, we hope to be able to further drop our prices.”

Buyers, however, won’t be able to inspect the flower before buying. The law requires medical marijuana to be sold in opaque, sealed packages. Restore will have about 18 cannabis strains in stock. TerraVida, which dominates sales in the Philadelphia suburbs, expects to have 43 strains on offer.

“You can’t see it, and you can’t smell it in the dispensary,” Stanley said. “If you want a look, we’ll have high-definition pictures. And they look great.”

Physician Sue Sisley, founder of the Scottsdale Research Institute, said flower remains the most affordable and effective form of cannabis.

Oils and concentrates are “suboptimal forms” of the plant, said Sisley, who investigates marijuana’s effects on PTSD in veterans and opioid withdrawal. “It’s like the difference between an orange and orange juice,” she said. “Flower gives you the natural entourage effect. There are 400 bioactive molecules in the plant, 130 plus cannabinoids and dozens of terpenes and flavinoids. The theory is that the molecules all work together. Processing into oils and concentrates strips many of them away.”

The grower-processors shipping flower next week include Cresco Yeltrah, Terrapin Pennsylvania, Ilera Healthcare, Holistic Farms, and Standard Farms. Dispensaries in the Philadelphia market with flower for sale will include TerraVida, Restore, Liberty on Krewstown Road in the city’s Bustleton section, and Ilera in Plymouth Meeting.

Though flower is traditionally smoked in joints, pipes and bongs, state law explicitly forbids fully burning it. Vaporization, which subjects marijuana to a lower temperature and produces fewer carcinogens, is the only approved method of consuming it. Vaping requires a separate device that may cost up to $199 for a top-of-the-line vaporizer.

“Smoking dry leaf is illegal in Pennsylvania,” said Peter Marcus, spokesman for Terrapin Pennsylvania. “If they’re caught smoking the product, their patient card could be rescinded.

“Understandably, it would be difficult for the state to enforce such a rule, but patients should still be cautious and be aware the law exists,” Marcus said. “For some consumers, they might find vaping to have a cleaner taste and easier on the throat. It’s a great method.”
 
PA unveils 13 medical marijuana grower/processor licenses; flower sales set


Pennsylvania regulators announced the second round of winners of medical marijuana grower/processor licenses, selecting 13 companies and further expanding what is poised to become one of the largest MMJ industries in the nation.

Phase 2 of the licensing process – coming a little more than a year after the first phase – is intended to bring the total number of growers to 25 and dispensary operators to 50, the maximum allowed under Pennsylvania’s 2016 MMJ law.


Each dispensary operator is allowed to open three storefronts.
In a related development, a dozen dispensaries Wednesday will begin selling marijuana in flower or leaf form for vaping, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

The move – approved earlier this year by Gov. Tom Wolf – should help boost MMJ sales by giving patients a wider choice of potentially cheaper products. It also could help MMJ companies by lowering certain production costs.

The 13 grower/processor license winners hailed from across the state. Here they are with their corresponding town and region:

  • DocHouse (Pottsville, southeast)
  • Agri-Kind (Chester, southeast)
  • Pier Cove (Hazle Township, northeast)
  • PharmaCann Penn Plant (Olyphant, northeast)
  • Green Leaf Medical (Saxton, south central)
  • Whole Plants (Lebanon, south central)
  • INSA (Shamokin Dam, north central)
  • Parea BioSciences (Coal Township, north central)
  • Maitri Genetics (Pittsburgh, southwest)
  • Hanging Gardens (Lemont Furnace, southwest)
  • PennAlt Organics (Johnstown, southwest)
  • Calypso Enterprises (Erie, northwest)
  • FarmaceuticalRx (Farrell, northwest)
PennAlt Organics, located in Lemont Furnace, scored the highest of all applicants.

The state’s program was designed to roll out in two phases. In June 2017, regulators approved 27 dispensary operator licenses and 12 grower/processor permits during Phase 2.

In addition to the 13 grower/processor licenses, Phase 2 will include 23 new dispensary operators.

During Phase 1, it took the Pennsylvania Department of Health about a week to announce the dispensary license winners after it announced the grower/processor licensees.

If that’s an indicator, the Phase 2 dispensary license winners could be announced next week.
 

'Historic' day for medical marijuana in Pa. as 'flower' goes on sale



Thom Shannon was the first in line. The medical marijuana dispensary on Old York Road in Abington wouldn’t open its doors for nine more hours. But Shannon, 43, already had been waiting 20 years.

“I was a little premature, but this day is kinda historic,” said Shannon, a burly former executive chef. “I thought this day would never come.”

“Dry leaf” marijuana went on sale Wednesday morning at 16 dispensaries across the state. Additional dispensaries will begin stocking it over the next week. Also known as “flower” or “bud,” dry leaf is the form of the medicine that is the most affordable and familiar to patients and recreational users alike.
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Medical marijuana in the form of “dry leaf” or “flower” went on sale in Pennsylvania for the first time legally at 16 cannabis dispensaries on Wednesday.

A line of 100 people snaked around the TerraVida Holistic Center in Abington before the dispensary, a former animal hospital, opened its doors at 10 a.m. As Chris Visco, TerraVida’s co-owner, handed out doughnuts to the waiting throng, cheers erupted as patients were called inside.

Shannon, wearing an orange plaid shirt and khaki shorts, had his run of the store. He zeroed in on 10 different varieties that were packaged as single grams in opaque plastic bags. Though the bags were hermetically sealed, for the first time the TerraVida dispensary was perfumed with the lemony, skunky scent of unprocessed cannabis.

“I bought Star Killer, Hash Haze, Lemon G, Mob Boss, and a bunch of others,” said Shannon, who suffers from chronic pain brought on by herniated discs and fibromyalgia. “Traditional medicines helped to some degree, but the opioids, Xanax and other benzos I was taking had only limited effect and were highly addictive.”

Shannon, who left Aramark to become a stay-at-home dad in Glenside, said the prescription pharmaceuticals made it difficult to take care of his children, ages 6 and 2. “For years, we watched a lot of TV,” he said. “Now my oldest son recognizes the difference. Cannabis gives me a boost and focus. I’m more active and can play face-to-face with my kids on the floor.”

By noon at TerraVida, several strains had sold out. Terrapin’s Princess Leia — an inexpensive variety turbocharged with 21.6 percent of the psychoactive molecule THC — had flown off the shelves.

There was plenty left to choose from on the menu.

“Our next biggest seller is Salmon River OG, by Holistic Farms,” said Visco. “We’ve only sold flower today, not one other thing. And we’ll still have other strains that will last through the rest of the week. ”

Dispensaries across the state reported brisk sales. At Restore Integrative Wellness Center in Fishtown, patients bought as much as they were allowed, a maximum of 15 grams a week.

“The cheaper price points sold out in the first 45 minutes we were open,” said Restore’s manager, Rob Stanley, who said stores were allotted 15 pounds of flower. “We have enough of everything. We might run a little low, but we’ll have plenty. We’ve already done 90 patients in the first two hours.”

Shannon may have been the first patient to buy flower in Abington. But in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, another set of patients had a 10-hour jump on him.

In King of Prussia, Keystone Shops opened at 12:01 a.m. to become the first in the state to sell flower. A parking lot celebration heralded the opening with a DJ, free pizza and hoagies for patients and their friends. After the countdown to midnight, nearly 100 patients streamed through the doors before Keystone closed shortly after 2 a.m., only to reopen at 10.

“We’re swamped right now,” Keystone’s manager, Mike Badey, said Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve sold out of a few strains. Lemon G and Bio Jesus are both very popular. I’m running off about 70 minutes of sleep. But it’s all worth it, though.We’re super thrilled.”

The state launched its medical marijuana program in mid-February with the sale of highly processed cannabis oils, tinctures, lotions and pills. After a bumpy start and product shortages, the state program has steadied itself. The state Department of Health has certified about 32,000 patients to participate.

Processed products are more expensive than marijuana in its raw state. Patients complained about the cost. Many on fixed-incomes, the elderly and disabled, could not afford the medicines, which are not covered by insurance.

Whatever you call it — dry leaf, flower, whole plant, or bud — raw cannabis is cheaper. Some of the varieties sold Wednesday for as little as $12 a gram. The less expensive, and more familiar form of the medicine, prompted a wave of new faces to visit some of the retail outlets.

“It seems like there have been a bunch of new patients coming in who had been holding off, saving their money for the flower,” said Lou Giannotti, pharmacist at the Liberty dispensary on Krewstown Road in the city’s Bustleton section. “They may have been hesitant to try the oils because they didn’t understand it. They’re more comfortable with the flower.”

To make the medicines more affordable, the state granted permission to several dispensaries on Wednesday to offer discounts of about 10 percent to veterans and seniors, said Health Department spokesman Nate Wardel. Previously, all discounts and specials were prohibited.

Traditionally, flower is smoked. Pennsylvania state law forbids combustion and requires patients to vaporize it with special devices.

Melinda Long, 49, uses a “volcano” to consume her medical cannabis.

“It’s kinda like a hookah,” she said. “I’d prefer to use a pipe or a bong, but in Pennsylvania you can’t. You’re not allowed to smoke joints, either.”

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People line up outside TerraVida in Abington, where medical marijuana in the form of “flower,” the most recognizable and affordable form of the drug, is now available. Those in line were filling out paperwork as well as their order before the opening of the store.

Long, who was sixth in line at TerraVida when she arrived in the rain at 7 a.m., uses the drug to help her sleep through the pain of her osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia. While waiting, she saw people crying. “There were suits and soccer moms there and everyone was happy,” Long said. “Some had tears of joy.”

For 17 years, she had been prescribed Vicodin and Ultram. She said she used marijuana to wean herself off the pain meds. At TerraVida, Long bought 9 grams of different flower packages. At home in Hatboro, she vaporized a strain called Outer Space.

“I was in pain. And I felt better immediately,” Long said. “I cleaned the house! My whole outlook is clearer. “I may sound all happy and giddy about it, but that’s because I don’t have to deal with the feeling of being on the pills anymore,” she said. “I only wish Pennsylvania had done this a lot sooner.”
 
(Yet Another) Study: Legal Marijuana Doesn’t Lead To Increased Youth Use

While youth in Pennsylvania are more accepting towards marijuana following its legalization for medical use in the state, they are not consuming it more than before, researchers have found.

A supposed negative impact on children is one of the most common arguments deployed by prohibitionist activists and anti-legalization groups. And it is one for which there is little evidence.

The new study is the latest in a string of reports that have found that marijuana legalization, be it for medical or recreational use, is having a negligible impact on whether juveniles will use the drug.

“While what we found shows that attitudes towards marijuana are becoming more accepting, or normalized, use has not increased,” Philip Massey, an assistant professor at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health and the report’s lead author, said in a press release. “This is important because many people fear that legalizing marijuana will lead to greater use and potential abuse.”

“It doesn’t appear to be affecting youth use.”

Pennsylvania legalized medical cannabis in 2016, and the first dispensaries opened for patients earlier this year.

As in other states and with federal data, most “official” rates of youth drug use are based on surveys in which teens self-report what drugs they use and at what frequency.

Researchers looked at what “youths”—defined as people between the ages of 12 and 17—thought of marijuana based on survey results between 2013 and 2017.

Over that period of time, young people who “had at least one best friend smoke marijuana over the last year grew by only one percentage point, from 30.7 to just 31.9,” according to data released Wednesday from the Pennsylvania State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup.

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While use rates have changed only slightly, attitudes have shifted much more significantly.

The percentage of youths who said they “would never try” marijuana decreased over that period of time from 71 percent to 62.2 percent.

And the percentage of youths who said that they “strongly disapprove” of “someone your age using marijuana once a month or more” decreased from 60.7 percent to 53.3 percent.

tudes-2.jpg


At least part of this may be attributable to parents. According to Gallup, support for marijuana legalization among adults is at an all-time high. According to Pennsylvania adolescents, the percentage of parents who believe marijuana use is “very wrong” decreased from 81.2 percent to 75.4 percent.

At the same time, this shift in attitudes hasn’t changed the prohibitive atmosphere around the drug—in fact, according to teens, marijuana is harder than ever to get.

In 2013, 53.9 percent of youths said marijuana was “very hard” to access. In 2017, that figure increased to 55 percent.

Restrictions on youth access are baked into nearly every marijuana law in the United States, and providers face stiff penalties for violations.

During a recent sting operation in Oregon, where underage operatives were sent into cannabis dispensaries and liquor stores in an attempt to buy age-restricted products in violation of the law, alcohol sellers proved more likely to sell to youths than marijuana retails did.

Another factor that may be affecting youth attitudes is a shift in criminal-justice system practices. Philadelphia decriminalized marijuana in 2013, and Pittsburgh followed suit in 2016. Juvenile arrest rates decreased from 112.3 per 100,000 in 2013 to 79.6 in 2016.

According to Massey, this “preliminary data tell me that the people who need marijuana for medical purposes are the ones benefiting from this law.”
 
"each of the aspiring growers would have won the right to grow cannabis in the state and to open six retail dispensaries."

What kind of research program is this...research into how to make a lot of money by growing and dispensing? Just looks like another big money give away but WTF, I am a cynical person.



Cannabis bombshell: Pa. throws out all 8 marijuana research applications. What’s next?

Pennsylvania’s ambitious plan to become the national center for medical marijuana research just can’t get off the ground.

In the latest setback for the program, the state Department of Health on Wednesday rejected the applications of all eight marijuana growers who had planned to partner with the state’s medical schools. Regulators said the applications were riddled with mistakes and missing information.

The Wolf administration said it would open a second round of applications in early 2019. A statement issued by the Department of Health said none of the applicants — which include some of the nation’s most successful cannabis cultivators — “met the rigorous requirements of the competitive application review process.”

Several industry experts said the rejections could hold up research indefinitely.

“Eight billionaire groups who have spent the last four years trying to situate themselves as medical marijuana kingpins in the state have just been told ‘No,'" said Andrew Sacks, cochair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Committee on Medical Marijuana and Hemp. "That’s big news.”

The health department previously had delayed the program to rewrite some of the regulations.

If the permits had been awarded, each of the aspiring growers would have won the right to grow cannabis in the state and to open six retail dispensaries.

Last week, Harrisburg lawyer Judith Cassel filed a lawsuit to prevent the Department of Health from granting permits to aspiring research growers. The suit alleged pay-to-play between the already-partnered growers and the medical schools. The filing also claimed that the state would be unconstitutionally abdicating its role if the medical schools were allowed to choose their own partners without scoring by the state. And the suit claimed that the state required only the minimum amount of research. Cassel filed the suit on behalf of several current Pennsylvania medical marijuana growers and dispensaries.

The state said the lawsuit played no role in its decisions.

“Our goal is to ensure that our research program operates at the highest standards,” said Secretary of Health Rachel Levine, a former research scientist. “We are disappointed that awards were not made, but must uphold the standards set out in the regulations.”

The Department of Health’s reasons for rejection varied. The applications were not available for review by the Inquirer and Daily News, but the department provided copies of five denial letters.

Curaleaf Holdings, the Russian-backed company paired with the University of Pennsylvania, “failed to meet the minimum acceptable score for each scoreable section” in key sections of its application. It scored poorly in sections weighing its organization, ownership, capital, and tax status. It was also labeled “below expectations” in its diversity plan and community impact statement. The $4 billion cannabis grower operates in 10 states and was previously known as PalliaTech.

A Curaleaf executive said the company planned to appeal the decision to the department.

“What’s most disappointing in this news is that it will impede our ability to help patients in Pennsylvania and around the country,” said Joseph Lusardi, the company’s CEO. “This research is essential, as it will help identify other ways that medical cannabis can help aid in suffering with conditions like PTSD, chronic pain, epilepsy, and cancer.”

Laurel Harvest Labs, a Lancaster-based firm partnered with Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine, was strongly criticized for failing to meet minimum acceptable scores on its application. The state gave Laurel Harvest, which has no prior marijuana growing experience, low marks on its diversity plan, community impact statement, and site and facility plan.

“It was a surprise that we were all rejected,” said Laurel Harvest’s managing director, Andrew Dodge. “We’re certainly looking to go forward and reapply. Hopefully, the outcome will be more desirable for the patients of Pennsylvania who deserve to have this up and running.”

Prime Wellness, which is owned by Acreage Holdings, partnered with Drexel University. Though it was among the high scorers last year and granted a grower/processor license by the health department, Prime Wellness was rejected this time because it failed to include a dispensary application and the required fees. Acreage Holdings includes former House Speaker John Boehner on its board of directors and recently added former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to its board.

Several growers were denied for more amateur reasons: They did not follow directions.

Franklin Labs, which partnered with Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, was one of three schools denied for failing to include a valid contractual relationship with a research institution. The schools erred because they had included letters of intent that predated the health department’s certification of the medical school as a valid medical marijuana research center. Other companies that lost out for the same reasons included MLH Explorations, which paired with Thomas Jefferson University; and Cansortium Health Partners, which teamed with Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Cassel applauded the state for not awarding the permits.

“The process was flawed and the outcome confirms this,” Cassel said. “We hope that Health will go on to create a process that is open, transparent and seeks the very best in the state to pursue research and that the research requirement is substantial.

"But as it stands, we won’t withdraw our litigation at this time.”
 

Pennsylvania Governor indicates support for legalizing recreational cannabis in series of tweets


In a series of questions and answers on Twitter earlier this week, it appears that Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf is considering legalizing recreational cannabis in the state.

“More and more states are successfully implementing marijuana legalization, and Pennsylvania should learn from their efforts,” Wolf responded to one tweet which asked when Pennsylvania will “catch up and make recreational marijuana legal".

“Any change would take legislation, but I think it is time for Pennsylvania to take a serious and honest look at recreational marijuana.”

This is a fairly new stance for Wolf to take as previously he has pushed back against legalizing recreational cannabis. In 2017, when confronted with the potential tax revenue that could be brought to the state from recreational sales, Wolf responded, “we have a $3 billion deficit. So that’s not going to help.”

Wolf also told Pittsburgh’s KDKA 1020 in an interview that he didn’t think the state was ready for recreational cannabis. He’s regularly pushed back against the idea that the medical marijuana program would be considered a precursor to a recreational market. However, after seeing more states legalize cannabis for recreational purposes with success, Wolf seems to be changing his tune.

Though there is a growing amount of support in favor of legalizing recreational cannabis in Pennsylvania, some are still entirely opposed and disappointed in Wolf’s changing stance on the matter.

“The governor’s new position on the issue of legalizing marijuana for recreational use is reckless and irresponsible. Recreational marijuana is a mind-altering narcotic which will harm our youth as it is a depressant and a gateway drug to other illegal substances,” said Republican State Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman. “Combine that with a lack of credible research on the societal costs and opposition from prosecutors, the medical community and law enforcement and you have the makings of a catastrophe.”

Wolf has previously been in favor or decriminalizing low-level marijuana offenses to make it easier on law enforcement and to lessen the number pf people being imprisoned for these offenses.

A bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Barry Jozwiak, retired state trooper and former sheriff of Berks County, would have decriminalized a lot of minor offenses, but after succeeding in a House Judiciary Committee with a 14-9 vote, the bill stalled.

“Last year, in Berks County, there were 632 cases of possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana,” said Jozwiak. “These cases cost over $1.5 million dollars to prosecute and brought in only $126,000 in fines. In most cases, each fine was $200 or less. I’m sure this is the same in other counties. This bill will reduce the workload in the court system, save millions of dollars, and allows police to file citations at the local district justice level.”

Though the October bill may have stalled, Wolf’s tweets earlier this week are the first such occasion that he has recommended the possibility of legalizing entirely, and shows the possibility that Pennsylvania could legalize in the near future.
 
Let's see if I have this straight:

1. September 2017 showed 59 percent of those surveyed support allowing marijuana for recreational use

2. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman came out strongly against it and it’s unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-controlled Legislature

This is easy, PA electorate.....send these folks packing (maybe they will even have to get a job and work for a living) and get some legislators who respect the desires of the state's citizens.


Pot in Pennsylvania: Yes, there's strong public support for recreational marijuana


The idea of legalizing marijuana may have significant opposition in the General Assembly, but polls show the public supports the idea.

Earlier this week, Gov. Tom Wolf said it’s time for Pennsylvania to take a closer look at legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes, especially as other states have done so. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman came out strongly against it and it’s unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Even the two state lawmakers who championed medical marijuana are split on the idea.

But polls show a remarkable growth in public support for pot in recent years.

A Franklin & Marshall College poll in September 2017 showed 59 percent of those surveyed support allowing marijuana for recreational use. It represents quite a shift from a May 2006 poll, when only 22 percent supported the idea, said G. Terry Madonna, a political analyst and pollster at Franklin & Marshall.

Muhlenberg College polls have shown consistent growth in support for recreational marijuana. Last March, Muhlenberg’s annual poll on public health issues found 49 percent of those surveyed support recreational marijuana and 30 percent oppose it (the remainder have no opinion or are unsure).

By comparison, a 2013 Muhlenberg poll found 33 percent supported legalizing pot for recreational use, while 40 percent opposed it.

“There’s been a pretty solid move in the direction of support,” said Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

Nationwide, two in three Americans support legalizing marijuana, according to an October 2018 Gallup poll. It’s the height of public support for pot since Gallup began polling on the issue nearly 50 years ago.
 
Key statement here:

"According to a 2017 Franklin and Marshall poll, nearly 60 percent of Pennsylvania voters support legalization."

So, make your political representatives actually represent you, electorate of PA!! Beat on dem' suckers until they do what you want!


‘It’d be like flipping a switch.’ Pennsylvania medical marijuana dispensaries eye adult-use market

Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana industry this week announced it would support the creation of an adult use cannabis program in the Keystone State.

The Pennsylvania Cannabis Coalition, a network of current growers and dispensary owners, endorsed the idea as Lt. Gov. John Fetterman began holding town halls in the state’s 67 counties to gauge interest in legalizing weed for recreational use.

Related stories
According to a 2017 Franklin and Marshall poll, nearly 60 percent of Pennsylvania voters support legalization.

“Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program is an unqualified success and has been the best state that’s ever had a program rollout,” said Andrew Blasco, the coalition’s executive director. “Our rate of registering patients has been better than any other across the country.”

Sales of medical marijuana began last year in mid-February. Nearly 83,000 qualified patients have spent about $132 million on various forms of cannabis in the state.

Blasco said the coalition members are “enthusiastic” about the prospect of participating in an adult-use market.

In the 10 states that have added recreational sales, the medical programs have either plateaued or seen a reduction in revenues. The current medical marijuana dispensaries could easily transform into recreational outlets. “It would be like flipping a switch,” Blasco said.
 
This is kind of fucked up, yeah? Not selling, just setting up info booths. Government at work yet once again...sigh.

Pot dispensaries banned from attending Pennsylvania's largest cannabis festival


On 4/20 this year (or April 20th, to the uninitiated), over 10,000 cannabis enthusiasts and medical users will descend on Scranton, PA’s Nay Aug Park for the Pennsylvania Cannabis Festival. The free event debuted in 2015 after being organized by activists in support of legal access to medical cannabis.

The festival features multiple stages, dozens of bands, food trucks and a plethora of vendors of cannabis products such as cosmetics, CBD oil and smoking accessories like bongs, pipes and ashtrays.

But this year, there will be a significant omission in attendees: Pennsylvania’s dispensaries, who provide the drug to over 100,000 patients as part of the state’s medical cannabis program, and licenced cannabis growers.

In an unexpected move last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Health informed event organizers that licenced producers and dispensaries would be prohibited from participating in the festival. The Department of Health is responsible for running the state’s medical cannabis program.

The dispensaries had committed thousands of dollars in sponsorship of the festival–some up to nearly $10,000 to distribute educational materials and set up booths on the festival grounds.

“There is never any weed sales at the festival. We’ve never had a violation of the law,” organizer Jeff Zick told the Inquirer. “Not one arrest and not one parking ticket. We’re totally law abiding. There’s no reason for them to take a stance against us.”

Dispensaries must have all their promotional and marketing material approved by PA’s Office of Medical Marijuana. The Department of Health claimed that what Cannabis Festival organizers submitted to the Office did meet state criteria and was not a “medically-focused event.”

Materials for the event advertised a “Cannabis Cup,” or judge-evaluated cannabis competition, which offered revellers a USD$450 package that included a cannabis sampling event. Organizers say the Cup is a separate event happening the day before the festival and organized by a separate company, although the Cannabis Festival does “manage it.”

The PA Office of Medical Marijuana maintains a neutral stance on adult-use recreational cannabis consumption and legalization.
 

Philly DA’s Office won’t prosecute cannabis users for DUI unless they are actually stoned


The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association testified against legalizing cannabis for adult recreational use at a hearing in Harrisburg Monday, eliciting a stinging response disputing the association’s claims from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

“Recreational marijuana is not safe or harmless,” Association president John Adams told a joint hearing of the Democratic Policy Committees. “Our opposition stems from science, research and data, as well as information from our addiction specialists.”

Rejecting the association’s claims, Krasner called it the group that “gave us an 800 percent increase in jail population” and also called Pennsylvania’s current cannabis laws “dumb.”

The District Attorneys Association is "not relying on science,” Krasner said at the joint hearing. “They’re relying on pseudoscience, which has been a well-funded industry to prosecute this, because people make money — including criminal defense attorneys — make money when it is prosecuted.”

Adams and Krasner are former criminal defense attorneys.

Krasner said his office will not prosecute cannabis DUIs “unless people show active — I repeat, active — psychoactive amounts of cannabis in their system that rise to a level which has generally scientifically been agreed upon as affecting driving.”

It is unclear what that level might be. Tests can only detect the level of THC metabolites in the blood, but not determine intoxication.

Adams said that states where marijuana has been legalized for adult recreational use are seeing “negative consequences.” Legalization has not ended the black market and tax revenues from marijuana sales have not outweighed the costs, which he said were drugged driving, absenteeism, and drug treatment.

Adams also said that legalized states have experienced “significant increases” in the number of fatal crashes in which marijuana use has been implicated.

Krasner dismissed that claim vigorouslyand blamed the District Attorneys Association for propagating the myth of cannabis-caused crashes.

“What that law currently says is that if there is any detectable amount of digested marijuana in your system, then you are DUI,” Krasner said. "So in other words, if I smoked a joint 30 days ago, it has absolutely no psychoactive effect whatsoever on anything I am doing, and I drive a car, then I am driving under the influence. This is absurd.

“It has been the law in Pennsylvania forever. It is on a collision course with our medical marijuana, which is going to tell people medically it’s OK for you to take this for the various neuropathy or other forms of disease that you have, but somehow you can’t drive. It’s absurd and it’s indicative of what we have gotten from the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association.”

Patrick Nightingale, an attorney and cannabis advocate from Pittsburgh, testified that though fatal crashes linked to a detectable amount of THC metabolite in the blood more than doubled in Colorado from 2013 to 2017, it was because Colorado only recently began testing for THC in all DUI investigations.

Adams said the District Attorneys Association supports legislation to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. “Such legislation would help clear cases from the criminal docket and allow law enforcement officials to focus on other matters.”

“We consider this a smart, commonsense approach,” said Adams, the district attorney for Berks County.
 
We have the same underhanded corporate actions trying to evade multiple license and ownership restrictions. While I do think there is a place for big MJ in the industry, for the most part the states really did intend to protect diversity in the marketplace (and I'm not talking identity group diversity) and protection of smaller businesses that support such diversity. Sadly, in MD our state regulators seem complete outmatched by their corporate opponents in this. At least PA is showing it has a pair.

Pennsylvania cracks down on Big Marijuana, threatens to shut out biggest permit holder

In an unprecedented move, Pennsylvania on Wednesday threatened to revoke the permits of a Phoenix-based company that holds the rights to open the most medical marijuana dispensaries in the Keystone State.

The action was prompted by what officials called “blatant misrepresentation” in a statement issued by Harvest Health & Recreation, which announced Tuesday that it is acquiring a Pennsylvania weed company.

Harvest claimed that its multimillion dollar deal to acquire CannaPharmacy would make it one of the biggest marijuana companies in the nation. As part of the deal, Harvest said it would gain ownership of a marijuana growing operation in Reading. In addition, the company claimed it owned rights to open a total of 21 retail marijuana dispensaries.

That contradicts the state medical marijuana law, which caps the number of dispensaries a company may operate at 15 and prohibits transfer of permits.



The state’s warning shot offers a window into a larger problem that regulators, including in Massachusetts, are grappling with: big businesses trying to take advantage of legal loopholes, often effectively shutting smaller entrepreneurs out of a lucrative but nascent industry.

It was the first time state regulators had heard of CannaPharmacy, which cast itself as the parent of Franklin Labs LLC.

Pennsylvania regulators, however, are very familiar with Franklin Labs, which holds a permit to grow cannabis in a former Pepsi warehouse near Reading. Though the politically well-connected company (it’s chairman is former Gov. Tom Wolf adviser John Hanger) was deemed operational more than a year ago, it has yet to provide a single gram of marijuana to any medical marijuana dispensary in Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, the state’s Department of Health fired off a sternly worded letter at Harvest, calling its claims of a massive Pennsylvania footprint "a blatant misrepresentation.” And, the health department stated that Franklin Labs’ grow permit is “nontransferable under Section 603(B) of the Medical Marijuana Act.”

Harvest said it “is fully committed to always operating within state guidelines and working closely with Pennsylvania’s Department of Health on their medical cannabis program.”

Even if the state does allow Harvest to acquire Franklin Labs, the state’s letter said, “Franklin Labs will retain ownership of the permit and Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. may not represent that it owns the permit issued to Franklin Labs LLC.”

Harvest (OTC: HRVSF) also claimed to own permits that would allow it to open 21 retail dispensaries. The Department of Health said that was not true. In its rebuke to the company’s CEO, Steve White, the health department said Harvest “did not apply for, or receive, any permits in Pennsylvania.”

Which is technically correct.

That’s because Harvest won more permits to sell marijuana than Pennsylvania allows, by using multiple affiliates to apply and receive permits in the state.

Under state regulations, a company may own only five. Each of the permits allows for three marijuana dispensaries. So, instead of applying as Harvest Health & Recreation, the company applied as seven limited liability companies. Each of its seven applications was a winner.

“Because each business is recognized as a separate legal entity under law, the department expects each to operate as independent entities as represented in the permit applications,” said the letter, signed by John Collins, the director of the state’s medical marijuana program.

“Any continued misrepresentation that these entities are one and the same will be construed as a falsification of the permit applications and will result in the office taking action against each entity, including possible revocation of permits.”
 
"Pennsylvania is not the only state struggling to regulate out-of-state marijuana companies. Massachusetts and Maryland are similarly overwhelmed."

They aren't "overwhelmed" as in "bury or drown beneath a huge mass or give too much of a thing to (someone); inundate."

What is true, IMO, in MD is our politicians and bureaucrats were completely out thought, out maneuvered, and out classed by corporate lawyers....because they are dumb shits....I mean, real clowns. We have the same rules here...only one grow license per company. That has been completely overrun by management contracts that are purchases in all but name and my state is doing a fucking abysmal job of enforcing both the letter and the intent of the law.



Big marijuana firms are ‘rolling up’ local dispensaries and growers, skirting Pennsylvania’s laws


Harvest Health & Recreation, one of the nation’s largest marijuana companies, gate-crashed into Pennsylvania in April. Moments after announcing a big acquisition, Harvest told investors that it controlled seven permits in the state, allowing it to set up 21 medical marijuana dispensaries.

That’s two more permits than Pennsylvania allows any one company to own, a cap the Tempe, Ariz.-based company skirted with corporate slight of hand.

Related stories
“This is a land grab, and there are a discrete number of prime license opportunities,” Steve White, CEO of Harvest Health, said in the April call with investors, referring to state permits to grow and sell marijuana.

White sees the cannabis market as “oligopolistic” — one where a handful of companies control production and sales. Such a market would make it harder for smaller businesses to compete, and potentially would keep prices artificially high.



If Harvest follows through and opens 21 dispensaries, it will control 14 percent of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana market, which was set up with the intention to prevent precisely that kind of market concentration.

Yet companies like Harvest are using loopholes in the state’s law to snap up cannabis properties. Harvest alone has a war chest of $500 million set aside for acquiring smaller cannabis companies.

It’s “a nightmare scenario come to life for patients,” said Chris Goldstein, an organizer for NORML, who advocated for medical marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania.

Since Pennsylvania launched its medical marijuana program in 2018, large multi-state marijuana companies — including Culver City, Calif.-based Medmen Enterprises and Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries as well as AES Compassionate Care and Canada’s Tilt Holdings — have planted their flags in the state or are expanding their footprint through backdoor arrangements.



Regulators say they don’t track ownership changes in cannabis companies in a market that saw more than 100,000 Pennsylvania residents sign up and had at least $130 million in 2018 sales. With the possible legalization of recreational use on the radar, large marijuana companies are looking at a $22.7 billion national market by 2023.

Outgunned and outmanned
Pennsylvania lawmakers said they didn’t anticipate the era of publicly traded cannabis companies when the state passed a medical marijuana law in 2016. They certainly weren’t prepared for creative arrangements that well-financed marijuana companies are using to control more permits than the law intended.

“What I wanted to do was create a free market,” said State Sen. Mike Folmer (R., Lebanon), who led the effort to legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania. “The real goal was to have a true medicinal program with an emphasis on research. I don’t want two or three entities controlling the whole market.”


In Pennsylvania, a company can win up to five dispensary permits, each of which allows three separate stores, for a total of 15 retail outlets. In terms of growing marijuana, a permit allows only one cannabis cultivation facility per company.

Harvest has managed to put itself in control of two marijuana growing facilities in Pennsylvania. The company did that by entering into a so-called management service agreement with Agrimed Industries, which has a permit to grow cannabis in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Also, Harvest is acquiring CannaPharmacy, the parent company of Franklin Labs, which owns a permit for growing at a facility just south of Reading.

With a management service agreement, or MSA, a multi-state company takes control by giving a smaller firm millions of dollars upfront. The smaller firm retains the permit. But the big company makes the management decisions and takes up to 90 percent of the revenues for a defined number of years. Such agreements are increasingly common in Pennsylvania.

The state Department of Health said it does not regulate ownership transactions.



“We only approve the affiliation of individuals with the permit,” said spokesperson April Hutcheson. "We regulate their right to operate, not the finances or how the company is going to operate.”

Same firm, different name
Harvest skirted the state cap on permits by applying through firms with slightly different names — Harvest of Southeast Pennsylvania LLC, Harvest of Northwest Pennsylvania LLC, etc. Each application listed the same corporate officers, investors, and senior managers. That the companies were different registered corporate entities was good enough for the Department of Health to issue permits.

However, the state regulators balked when The Inquirer wrote about Harvest’s claim that it was going to be Pennsylvania’s largest operator of medical marijuana dispensaries.



“Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. (Arizona-based parent company) did not apply for, or receive, any permits in Pennsylvania,” John J. Collins, the director of the Pennsylvania medical marijuana program, wrote in a sternly worded letter that threatened to revoke all of Harvest’s permits in the state.

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Steve White, CEO of Harvest Health and Recreation
White, Harvest’s CEO, said he was caught off guard by the regulator’s reaction.

Initially, he said, regulators had celebrated when his local outfits won state permits. “They called and said congratulations,” White said.

He acknowledges that Harvest Health — the parent company — does not technically own any of the seven permits, and that making such a public claim wasn’t smart. “For that, we apologize.”

Still, Harvest does not plan to return the permits that it owns beyond the state’s cap.

Growing pains
East Coast marijuana companies, especially in states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York that analysts say are on the cusp of full legalization, are among the most desirable takeover targets.

Harvest, like many other out-of-state companies, is aggressively positioning itself for a much bigger, lucrative market.

The companies "that are already in place as medical operators will have first-mover advantage in the recreational market,” said Kay Tamillow, director of research for the Brightfield Group, “So in the East, we expect continued mergers and acquisitions activity.”

Though applicants for state cannabis permits vowed that the medical program was their primary interest, “only God would know their heart,” Folmer said. He said he was disappointed that some of the companies may have been licking their chops at the prospect of dominating a future recreational market.

Among the 75 or so companies that won permits in Pennsylvania, several still haven’t grown or sold a single gram of cannabis. And yet, many have entertained interest from multi-state operators like Harvest.

“The speed at which it’s happening is blistering,” David Z. Tuttleman, a cannabis entrepreneur, said of the consolidations. Tuttleman, formerly of Philadelphia, operates Matrix NV, a craft-cannabis operation on the outskirts of Las Vegas. One of Nevada’s first commercial cannabis growers, Tuttleman twice applied to grow marijuana in Pennsylvania but did not win.

Revenues may look spectacular for many medical weed companies in Pennsylvania. But onerous federal laws, effective tax rates, and bank fees in excess of $10,000 a month mean that few firms are making much in profits.

“Many of the original Pennsylvania permit winners had no right to get into the business. It’s expensive,” Tuttleman said. “They over-promised their investors and under-delivered. Now there’s no room for a small operator.”

Strict federal restrictions make it extremely hard for cannabis entrepreneurs to raise money from investors. Industry insiders expect full legalization by 2022 but doubt Pennsylvania businesses will have the money to stay afloat until then.

In the meantime, their Pennsylvania medical marijuana permits — because there are relatively few of them — keep appreciating in value. That makes them ripe targets for multi-state companies loaded with hundreds of millions of dollars raised from investors in Canada, where marijuana is legal.

The roll-ups
The companies that won permits in Pennsylvania spent between $200,000 and $1,000,000 on their applications. Like lucky lottery tickets, those permits’ value have skyrocketed.

“A dispensary that’s open and functional is worth $10 million plus,” said a cannabis industry executive from Chicago, who asked not to be identified because his company is seeking to buy additional Pennsylvania properties. “A grow that’s dormant is worth $15 million. But if the grow is up and running and producing, it could be worth more than $35 million.”

Since the first dispensary opened in February 2018, large marijuana companies have made the following acquisitions:

  • MedMen, the multi-state operator that describes itself as the “Apple Store of Weed,” acquired Chicago-based PharmaCann in a $682 million all-stock deal. PharmaCann owns a permit for one cultivation site and three dispensaries in Pennsylvania.
  • GTI Pennsylvania, owned by Green Thumb Industries of Chicago, entered into a “management service agreement” with Pennsylvania’s KW Ventures Holdings. KW Ventures operates Firefly dispensaries in the central part of the state. GTI paid KW Ventures an undisclosed amount of cash to run the Firefly retail stores in exchange for nearly all of Firefly’s revenues. GTI already held a grow license and dispensaries in Pennsylvania.
  • AES Compassionate Care of Chicago, which does business as Grassroots and Herbology in Pennsylvania, entered into similar “management service agreements” with Dubois Wellness Centers dispensaries and Lebanon Wellness Centers.
  • Tilt Holdings of Canada in January finalized the acquisition of Standard Farms, a cultivator based in Luzerne County, in a $40 million stock and cash deal.
With the uncertainty in the long-term market, it’s hard to fault the small companies for cashing out.

“Tilt gave us money to double our capacity," said Standard Farms co-founder Jonathan Goldrath. “These facilities cost so much. You can’t get mortgages or loans from banks. If you want to grow, I don’t know where else you’d get the money.”

Not just a Pennsylvania problem
Pennsylvania is not the only state struggling to regulate out-of-state marijuana companies. Massachusetts and Maryland are similarly overwhelmed.

In Massachusetts, where a medical marijuana program exists alongside recreational sales, the state Cannabis Control Commission last month promised a crackdown on the “corporate shenanigans” that led several multi-state operators to brag that they had control over more marijuana permits than the state allowed.

“The ownership limits are being tested. We have an ongoing investigation,” said Massachusetts Cannabis Commissioner Shaleen Title.

In Maryland, ownership had been limited to only one cultivation or dispensing facility per company. But Green Thumb Industries, which also operates in Pennsylvania, found a way to take control of four outlets through MSAs.

“We should routinely expect the industry to follow the letter of the law, not the spirit,” said Jonathan Caulkins, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who authored a book on legalizing marijuana. “Well-meaning people wrote a law with loopholes that the industry exploits.”
 
Pennsylvania could cap prices on medical marijuanaby Chris Goldstein, Philly NORMLJune 13, 2019
leaf-money.jpg
Are you paying too much for medical marijuana?

Millions of Americans are legally replacing pharmaceuticals with cannabis and the question of affordability has become critical.

All of the state programs are independent and in various stages of maturity. Prices, even for closely similar products, have a wide range. Confused consumers are often paying $1000 per month at dispensaries, sometimes a lot more.

Pennsylvania’s closed-loop system of limited marijuana permit holders is not a competitive free market. Under similar structures around the country, like in New Jersey and New York, these licensed cannabis cartels set product costs independently from regulators. There hasn’t been much official critique on the impact.

Now, a single paragraph buried in Pa.’s medical marijuana law will start bringing some transparency to consumer-level prices. It could also have a profound influence on medical cannabis products nationwide.

Voila; Section 705 of Pa. Act 16:

Prices.
The department [of Health] and the Department of Revenue shall monitor the price of medical marijuana sold by grower/processors and by dispensaries, including a per-dose price. If the department and the Department of Revenue determine that the prices are unreasonable or excessive, the department may implement a cap on the price of medical marijuana being sold for a period of six months. The cap may be amended during the six-month period. If the department and the Department of Revenue determine that the prices become unreasonable or excessive following the expiration of a six-month cap, additional caps may be imposed for periods not to exceed six months.

These 105 words grant Pennsylvania the first statutory mandate in the country to directly affect the cost of cannabis. No other state gets a place at the table – with the permit holders – for the price fix.

This regulatory exercise could bring a new wave of relief to consumers. Many are having serious difficulty calculating and covering annual expenses for marijuana therapy.

The biggest reason price is such an issue is because there are no regular health insurance offsets for cannabis products. That means every sale is cash, directly out of consumers’ pockets.

Certain conditions require more cannabinoids than others. Thus, the worst impact of high retail pricing at dispensaries falls upon the most seriously ill residents; many of whom also live on a fixed income.

Operators fiercely defended premium retail prices. The corporate coyotes, howling around their latest stock offering or holding company acquisition, jab fingers towards eager investors seeking a quick return on the pure, liquid capital used for start-ups.

Price caps that could favor seriously ill patients/consumers will be an entirely new concept to the cannabis industry, but it’s no innovation. Americans enjoy stable costs on everyday essentials like gasoline, electricity, water, food, and basic drugs because of price controls on essentials.

Many of Pa. permit holders operate in multiple states, including New Jersey. So, this first-of-its-kind provision could also have an impact beyond the Commonwealth’s borders.

The most devilish detail in the provision is what the Pa. Department of Health considers to be a “dose” of medical marijuana. Labels on products from the. manufacturers have also included suggested doses, especially on the vape pens

The reality is that cannabinoids have very individualized effects on human beings. Patients need a vast array of possible dosing combinations, sometimes in the same day.

Epidiolex, the first cannabis-derived drug approved by the FDA, allows doses for children to be increased upwards of 200 times over the original amount during seizure episodes.

The rule is similar for medical cannabis: Patients working with a doctor determine their individual dose, increasing as needed.

Hopefully, regulators will focus on the real concern: Monthly and annual costs to consumers. Pa. Department of Revenue spokesperson Jeffrey Johnson confirmed that implementation of Section 705 is underway. Johnson says that Pa.’s operators have 12 months to submit their first price reports – the first started in February 2019 – and then quarterly thereafter.

State governments in the business of regulating medical marijuana are beginning to recognize a serious responsibility to institute fair prices.

The tasty underground flower I can buy and smoke today costs $5-$10 per gram. Legal options inside regulated dispensaries should cost less, not more.
 

Medical marijuana rollout marked by ‘significant errors and irregularities,’ records show


From the outset, Pennsylvania’s new medical marijuana industry was shrouded in secrecy.

Companies vying for lucrative state permits to grow or sell cannabis blacked out key information on their permit applications at the state’s encouragement. The Wolf administration waged a two-year court battle to protect those redactions and to shield bureaucrats who decided how permits were awarded from scrutiny.

Recent court-ordered releases of public information resulting from PennLive’s years-long legal battle with the state as well as testimony given as part of administrative appeals shine a light on the inner workings⁠ — and lapses of judgment — undergirding what could soon become a multi-billion dollar industry.

Last year, a state-assigned appeals officer concluded that the Department of Health’s scoring process was so marred by “significant errors and irregularities” that one company, Keystone ReLeaf, was entitled to a new review of its application by an entirely new scoring committee.

“All of this sounds like sour grapes but my client was only a few points short,” said Seth Tipton, the attorney representing Keystone ReLeaf.

The Bethlehem-based applicant was one of just two companies to successfully appeal their scores, at least to this point, because Tipton was able to convince the appeals officer of failures in the department’s process. At least two members of the 12-member scoring committee testified to misinterpreting key components of the applications, creating their own scoring rubric or splitting their responsibilities with coworkers who weren’t authorized to even see the applications.

The Office of Medical Marijuana is contesting virtually all of the appeals officer’s conclusions, arguing that scoring committee members’ actions did not violate state law or that the appeals officer mischaracterized their testimony. It also argues that the appeals officer’s report failed to account for the broad discretion the state Legislature gave the department to roll out the state’s medical marijuana program.

“Other hearing officers have found the process of those two individuals was accurate and the process was correct,” said DOH spokeswoman April Hutcheson. Except for in one other case, appeals officers from the state Department of State found in favor of the health department’s scoring process.

Hutcheson said Health Secretary Rachel Levine, who would usually have final say on such administrative appeals, recused herself. The appeals officer’s order, which was handed down in October, hasn’t been formally acted upon by Levine’s designee.

Apart from the irregularities at issue in the Keystone ReLeaf appeal⁠ — which, it should be noted, likely won’t lead to the wholesale reconsideration of hundreds of applicants — internal documents shine a light on an opaque process of vetting prospective distributors and manufacturers of what remains a Schedule 1 controlled substance.

Why does this all matter?

Put simply: Cannabis is big business and it’s getting bigger.

As of this spring, Pennsylvania registered more than 100,000 medical marijuana patients. According to Department of Revenue figures, the state’s 5 percent gross receipts tax on medical marijuana generated $3.4 million year-to-date through May. Based on that figure, these companies reported some $68 million in revenue.

And those revenues are expected to grow, possibly exponentially, as more patients sign up for medical marijuana and the Wolf administration eyes the legalization of pot for recreational use.

Any big business is subject to bad actors and influence peddling.


In early 2017, 12 current and former state employees were assembled to begin the process of reviewing the applications. It would be their responsibility to read and independently score different sections of applications, of which contain hundreds of pages of information ranging from sensitive information about security to billing and diversity plans.

For years the health department fought to keep their names a secret — even after their work had been completed — to protect them from threats and bribes.

A clause in the state law governing medical marijuana stipulated that the committee members’ names not be disseminated to applicants, but it made no indication that their identities be protected in perpetuity or from the general public.

The subject of how applications are graded and who grades them has been controversial in states like Arkansas and Maryland but the names themselves are often made public.

Last month, the state Commonwealth Court rejected the department’s argument and the department subsequently released their names to PennLive.

The committee represented a cross-section of middle managers from various departments with insight into agriculture, business, economic development and law enforcement. They included four employees of the Department of Community and Economic Development; three from Labor and Industry; two each from the Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania State Police; and one from the Department of General Services.

Medical marijuana scoring committee

Name
Department Position
Sheri Morris Agriculture Chief, Food Safety Policy and Program Division
Nancy Richwine Agriculture Annuitant, Plant Pathologist Supervisor
Fred Chapman Community and Economic Development Local Government Policy Specialist
Brian Deamer Community and Economic Development Economic Development Analyst 2
Art McNulty Community and Economic Development Local Government Policy Specialist
Greg Welker Community and Economic Development Economic Development Analyst 2
DeShawn Lewis General Services Director for the Bureau of Diversity, Inclusion, and Small Business Opportunities
Ken Baum Labor and Industry Annuitant, UCC Building Plans Examiner
Ron Seiler Labor and Industry Annuitant, UCC Building Plans Examiner Supervisor
George Valentine Labor and Industry Annuitant, UCC Building Plans Examiner Variance Reviewer
Scott Fidler Pa. State Police State Police Corporal
Robert Krol Pa. State Police State Police Lieutenant
According to Hutcheson, the Department of Health sent a call out to those agencies with a job description, seeking candidates to serve on the scoring committee. The members were identified by their respective departments as individuals who fulfilled those qualifications.

The 12 members didn’t receive any additional compensation for their participation, she said.

A PennLive review of the backgrounds of these individuals showed no obvious conflicts of interest, aside from their status as members of an administration that supported medical marijuana or their expertise in subject areas relevant to managing or regulating a cannabis operation. In one case, the spouse of a committee member donated to liberal causes, including $150 to Gov. Tom Wolf’s 2016 gubernatorial campaign.

Their names and the names of known business associates, family members and spouses do not appear in the first phase of medical marijuana applications that PennLive was able to scan. It’s impossible to rule out all possible conflicts of interest, however, due to the fact that some applications were so heavily redacted that they don’t include key employees and financial backers.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of applications from the second phase of permits that rolled out last year remain unavailable. Several sources, including a department spokeswoman, told PennLive the same panel also scored those applications.

When asked about the delay in processing the second round of applications, Hutcheson cited PennLive’s public records lawsuit over the heavily redacted first-round applications.

“It’s a huge amount of work,” she added, “in terms of reviewing the redactions and a huge amount of staff time to do that. Hundreds of thousands of pages have to be reviewed to get to the point we could post those documents online.”

Hutcheson initially confirmed sources that told PennLive the same scoring panel reviewed the second-phase applications. Another spokesman, Nate Wardle, later said that Hutcheson’s confirmation was incorrect due to “an ongoing legal process and change to regulations.” When asked to elaborate, he declined comment.

Most committee members did not respond to requests for comment or could not be reached. One of the members, who declined to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak on this contentious issue, said the process seemed fair from their perspective.

“The goal was the patients,” the member said. “[We] try to find the best applicants who could get up and running the fastest.”

That member said there was a sense of urgency to the work and that it involved a lot of reading over a short period of time. But the member rejected the idea that the scoring process was rushed.

“I know I did my due diligence,” the member said.

In March 2017, shortly after the first application deadline, the department’s Office of Medical Marijuana called the scoring committee in for two days of training. On the first day, a PowerPoint presentation outlined the basics of the program, its regulations and the application evaluation process. It also made clear that committee members were not to discuss the applications or their scoring with anyone, that they were not to compare applications and that they “DO NOT consult outside resources.”

Some members were assigned to review specific portions of the applications. The four DCED panelists, for example, were the only members to review the community impact section. The single panelist from DGS was responsible for all diversity plans but didn’t review any other sections.

The committee members, according to appellate documents, were instructed to provide an initial score based on a standardized rubric when they read an application. When they attended a committee meeting, the group would discuss the application and arrive at a final score.

On the second day, members of the committee gave their own presentations based on their individual areas of expertise and, as a whole, the group reviewed a redacted application that would give them an idea of what to expect.

Sunny Podolak, the office’s assistant director who also chaired the scoring committee but did not issue scores herself, testified that the two days were the only training the members received. (Podolak and her known associates did not appear in any applications PennLive reviewed.)

Each Thursday, Podolak distributed a thumb drive to the 12 members with 25 applications for them to review, as well as a schedule for the committee’s meetings the following Tuesday and Thursday. At the meetings, members discussed the applications among themselves and filled out a final score sheet where they could change their initial scores based on those discussions.

According to department logs, there were 277 dispensary and 175 grower-processor applications in the first phase followed by 168 dispensary and 87 grower-processor applications in the second.

DeShawn Lewis, who routinely analyzes the diversity components of state bids for the DGS, testified that she didn’t use the standardized rubric she was provided. Instead, she used a guide she developed with colleagues in the DGS legal office. She also shared applications with up to five colleagues who assisted her with the review but were not members of the scoring committee, had not received any training and had not pledged they were free from conflicts of interest. The names of those co-workers have not been released.

“When you’re looking at something like this, you’re somewhat subjective, and so we had — I had staff to review as well as I reviewed it,” Lewis testified in the Keystone ReLeaf appeal.

She noted that while she took her colleagues’ feedback into account, the final score was her decision alone.

Lewis’ decisions, while apparently rooted in a desire to score the applications more objectively, appeared to represent a breach of scoring guidelines and regulations. Applicants, for example, had no way of tailoring their submissions toward Lewis’ rubric because it wasn’t part of the application. And Lewis’ approach wasn’t confined to Keystone ReLeaf’s two dispensary applications, which were the subject of the appeal.

Podolak, in a separate appeal involving the Fayette County-based Maitri Medicinals, testified that these guidelines were in place as a safeguard against conflicts of interest and to ensure the confidentiality of a process that was highly competitive.

“We wanted to make sure that [the scoring committee members] were giving each application, you know, a fair review so that they were all reviewed with the same amount of integrity,” she said.

The diversity section, which was Lewis’ sole responsibility for scoring, represented 100 points or 10 percent of the whole.

Jackie Wiest Lutz, the appeals officer who found in Keystone ReLeaf’s favor, noted that the Office of Medical Marijuana had argued that Lewis’ diversity rubric was “based upon adherence” to the existing law and regulations. Lutz disagreed.

“Ms. Lewis’ testimony is not particularly trustworthy, as it is undermined by the fact that she failed to adhere to the training she received,” the appeals officer wrote. (Lutz and her known associates did not appear in any applications PennLive reviewed.)

Keystone ReLeaf’s appeal also shows the inherent slipperiness and room for human error in the scoring process. The company’s two dispensary applications contained identical “personal identification” sections, naming key figures in the operation, but one received a score of 36.4 while the other received 31.4 points.

Art McNulty, a DCED policy specialist at the time whose LinkedIn profile now identifies him as an employee of the Office of Medical Marijuana, couldn’t recall a reason for the discrepancy between the two applications’ scores during his testimony.

McNulty also testified that he had mistakenly overlooked security information and issued a reduced score for the application’s site and facility plan section due to that fact.

State law and temporary regulations called for dispensary applicants to have minimum capital requirements of $150,000 — a threshold meant to ensure that companies were able to cover the start-up costs of establishing a business that can be difficult to secure conventional funding for.

In his testimony, McNulty said he gave any applicant who had only the minimum capital a failing score. He mistakenly reduced Keystone ReLeaf’s score because he concluded that the company’s $6.9 million in cash deposited at a bank was “not as liquid” as he’d prefer.

Like Lewis, McNulty and the other DCED scorers apparently developed their own scoring rubric. He did not, however, consult people outside the scoring committee.

McNulty testified that he and other DCED members consulted U.S. Census and unemployment statistics to create their own internal scoring rubric, something applicants had no way of predicting when they assembled their applications. The training PowerPoint stipulated that “All determinations are based only on the applications — DO NOT consult outside resources.”

Lutz, the appeals officer, concluded that the sheer volume of application documents was “extemely massive,” and cited the appellant’s estimate that it would require scoring panel members to read as many as 1,000 pages an hour for eight hours a day.

“People are human, and people become fatigued,” she wrote. “Given the vast number of pages that the scorers were required to read, comprehend, and then score in such a short period of time, scoring errors were likely made.”


In addition to its administrative appeals, Keystone ReLeaf took its complaints about the process to civil court. Last year, prior to the successful appeal, state Commonwealth Court dismissed the case on procedural grounds, namely that the company had not yet exhausted the appeals process.

Judge Michael H. Wojcik in his decision wrote that the company raised “troubling allegations regarding the permitting process” but that the appropriate course of action would be to continue with the administrative appeals.

“Our position was the cat is out of the bag,” said Tipton, Keystone’s attorney. “If there’s a problem with the process, you really should stop the process for a moment and resolve it. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle.”

The department incorporated several changes during the second phase of applications and scoring, including rubrics developed for diversity and community impact. Hutcheson said the changes were made to improve the process but they are subject to an ongoing legal process.

“All applicants were aware of changes when they applied,” she said.

Hutcheson said the first round resulted in a total of 141 administrative appeals, including 69 from dispensary and 72 from grower-processor applicants. Sixty-two appeals emerged from the second round, including 41 from dispensary and 21 from grower-processor applicants. As of Tuesday, she said a total of 55 appeals are still pending before hearing officers. Eight are pending final action by the department.

So far, she said, no one has earned a permit as a result of their appeal. Any of them can appeal the department’s final action to Commonwealth Court.

Last October, Keystone ReLeaf’s appeals officer ordered its applications to be rescored with new scoring committee members and for the Department of Health to amend its temporary regulations to allow for additional dispensary permits if the company’s revised score was higher than that of an applicant who received a permit.

That order still sits with Ray Barishansky, one of Levine’s deputies. He will ultimately decide whether to carry out the appeals officer’s recommendations. The Office of Medical Marijuana, according to Hutcheson, “does not agree with the characterization that mistakes were made.”

Wardle added that while there’s no timetable for decisions to be made, the agency has moved on other cases.

Tipton said the company is still considering its legal options. If it doesn’t receive a permit, he said, the next step would return it to Commonwealth Court, this time with the administrative appeals process under its belt.

Keystone ReLeaf was far from the only company to identify problems with the Department of Health’s process. But most of the unsuccessful applicants kept their misgivings confined to internal appeals, particularly as the state still had a second wave of permits to distribute. Preparing an application could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars beyond the capital requirements. No one wanted to risk an adverse decision by speaking out.

“Knowing the amount of money to put together an application like this and knowing these kinds of issues affected the process is disheartening,” Tipton said.
 
Good for them...doing what those (expletive deleted.......by me! haha Gotcha' Mom! haha) in DC can't find the will to do, research.

Medical marijuana research program launched in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health last week announced a medical marijuana research program involving clinical registrants and approved universities is to kick off in the state.

The program will start with three clinical registrants, who each have a grower/processor and a dispensary permit. The initiative will see the collaborations conducting clinical research on any of the 21 conditions for which the use of medical marijuana is approved for in Pennsylvania.

“This research is essential to providing physicians with more evidence-based research to make clinical decisions for their patients,” said Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine. “It is the cornerstone of our program and the key to our clinically-based, patient-focused program for those suffering with cancer, PTSD and other serious medical conditions.”

Eight medical schools in the state have been certified as Academic Clinical Research Centers.

Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program has been extremely popular since it was signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf in April 2016. According to the Department of Health, there are currently 106,000 active certifications in the state; which represents approximately .8% of the Pennsylvania’s population.

There’s been no shortage of physicians wanting to get on board, with 1,600 having registered for the program and more than 1,140 of those have been approved.

25 grower/processors permits have been issued under the program; 18 of which are operational, and 50 dispensary permits have been approved.

In other recent cannabis related news out of Pennsylvania, Governor Wolf has applauded the state’s House of Representatives for its passage of ten bills related to the governor’s PA Farm Bill. Among those is HB 1519; which will create a Specialty Crop Block Grant program to invest in priority crops including hemp.

Interest in growing hemp in the state has spiked, which in part led to Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture to re-open its 2019 program to allow more participants. Early this month, various reports put the number of applications submitted at around 300. Unlike some U.S. states, hemp can be grown for the purposes of extracting cannabidiol in Pennsylvania, so it’s little wonder so many farmers are keen to cultivate as CBD is a very valuable and highly sought-after compound.
 
Dept. of Health issues cease and desist order to medical marijuana grower

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has ordered a Greene County medical marijuana grower/processor to discontinue most of its operations after a surprise inspection found numerous violations.

The state told AGRiMED Industries of Carmichaels to cease and desist harvesting, cutting or destroying marijuana plants without a department inspector present.

During the surprise inspection, AGRiMED was not able to produce records establishing how or when it destroyed marijuana plants that matured. It also could not produce security footage of the destruction of the plants, as required, because the security cameras were often not functioning. Plants that reach maturity and are not processed must be either trimmed or destroyed.

“Lapses in security cannot and will not be tolerated,” said Secretary of Health Rachel Levine. “Patients and communities are relying on us to ensure their medication is grown and processed in a safe, secure location, and we take that responsibility very seriously.”

Under the cease and desist order, AGRiMED will still be able to grow plants to cultivate its unique strains, but is prohibited from removing anything from the marijuana plants without a department inspector being present. It is also prohibited from turning off security equipment at any time without written authorization from the department.
 
Pennsylvania adds anxiety and tourette syndrome to Medical Marijuana Program

Later this July, Pennsylvania’s list of 21 conditions that qualify for medical marijuana treatments will grow to 23. On Thursday, Pennsylvania’s Department of Health approved the addition of two new qualifying conditions: anxiety and Tourette Syndrome. According to Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, the decision to add the two conditions wasn’t an easy one. But ultimately, Levine approved the conditions in light of growing evidence that cannabis can be an affective adjunct to traditional anxiety and Tourette Syndrome treatments.

The addition of the two conditions could transform Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program. While the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) say it’s difficult to know exactly how many people have Tourette Syndrome, studies estimate that 1 of every 162 (0.6 percent) of children in the U.S. lives with the condition. Furthermore, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting more than 18 percent of the adult population.

PA Health Secretary: Cannabis Should Accompany Anxiety, Tourette Treatments, Not Replace Them
Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act became law in April 2016. But it would take until early 2018 for the program to be fully up and running. The law mandates that the state’s medical marijuana program be run by a Director of Medical Marijuana and a 15-member Advisory Board. The board’s goals are to monitor the program, evaluate feedback from the public and industry stakeholders and importantly, propose changes to program’s rules and requirements.

Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Board has already increased the number of conditions that qualify for cannabis treatments under the law. In 2016, the Commonwealth’s medical marijuana program listed 17 qualifying conditions. In 2018, the board and Health Department upped the number to 21.

During a meeting in early 2019, the Advisory Board voted to approve the addition of anxiety and Tourette Syndrome. And at a May 15 meeting, the Board discussed the issue with Dr. Levine. The board had already approved the addition of the two conditions. But the decision required final approval from the Department of Health.

That decision came on July 11, when Dr. Levine announced that she had approved anxiety and Tourette Syndrome as qualifying conditions for medical marijuana. But the Health Secretary qualified her approval by saying that cannabis should not be viewed as replacement for traditional treatments.

“For both conditions, medical marijuana is not first line treatment and should not replace traditional therapies but should be used in conjunction with them, when recommended by a physician,” Levine said during a press conference.

Research Supports Treating Anxiety and Tourette Syndrome with Cannabis
As Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Levine acknowledges, evidence is mounting in support of using medical cannabis to treat anxiety and Tourette Syndrome. Recent studies like this one out of New Zealand, for example, found that a combination of 10.8 mg THC and 10 mg CBD taken twice daily reduced the frequency and severity of motor and vocal tics in patients’ with Tourette Syndrome. Other studies have identified the anti-anxiety and anxiety-reducing effects of cannabidiol (CBD). Another 2017 study found that THC appears to decrease anxiety at lower doses, but contributes to anxiety at higher doses. The same study found that CBD helps reduce anxiety at any dosage.
 
"The company recently entered into a management service agreement with Arizona-based Harvest Inc. to run the grow facility in Carmichaels, Greene County."

And this is going on in PA, MD, and many other places where the legalization law restricts transfer/sale of the licenses or restricts the number of licenses a party can have. This is a total end round the law's intent which is to protect diversity in the market and its products (and NO, I'm not talking social/racial group diversity) and to provide local control of state issued licenses.

AND, the reason they are getting away with it....well, on one hand you have highly paid corporate lawyers and on the other hand.....you have fucking politicians. Enough said....they have been spanked by the corporation
s.


Pennsylvania revokes marijuana grower’s permit after weed mysteriously disappears


Pennsylvania has revoked the cultivation permit of a medical marijuana grower for not meeting its production obligations and flouting other rules, according to state Health Secretary Rachel Levine.

Agrimed Industries in Western Pennsylvania was one of 12 growers granted a permit in June 2017 to produce cannabis for Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana patients. It was among the highest scorers on the Department of Health’s highly competitive application process. Two years later, it still has failed to produce any marijuana for the medical market.

Early this month, after a surprise inspection by health officials, Agrimed was ordered to cease harvesting or destroying its crop without state supervision. A regulator had found “a flagrant disregard” for regulations, “grossly mismanaged” plants, and the possibility that some of those plants had been diverted to the underground market.
The company recently entered into a management service agreement with Arizona-based Harvest Inc. to run the grow facility in Carmichaels, Greene County. A Harvest spokesperson did not immediately return requests for comment.

Agrimed has been hit with several mishaps in the last two years. Its former chief executive was found to have not disclosed a prior arrest on the company’s application and labor strife had held up construction of the facility.

According to the Department of Health, Agrimed was not able to produce records about how or when it destroyed mature marijuana plants, and could not produce required security footage of the destruction of the plants “because the security cameras were frequently nonfunctional.”
Agrimed has 30 days to appeal the state’s decision.

 

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