Pennsylvania’s Department of Health announced the winners of 27 medical cannabis dispensary permits on Thursday. The licensees now have six months to become fully operational, with medical marijuana sales expected to begin in the state sometime next year.
“This has been a highly competitive process and the department received hundreds of quality applications,” John Collins, director of the state’s Office of Medical Marijuana, said in a statement. “Once this program is fully operational, patients with serious medical conditions will have locations throughout the commonwealth where they can purchase medication to help in their treatment. We remain on track to provide medication to patients in 2018.”
The state received 280 applications for dispensary licenses, which then were scored by a panel of subject-area experts. Companies that applied to get a dispensary license could apply for one main facility and up to two satellite dispensaries.
Those in the Philadelphia area will initially have three dispensaries to choose from, although PhillyVoice reports that eventually a fourth will open, to be operated by Montgomery County permit holder TerraVida Holistic Centers.
Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act became effective on May 17, 2016, but has run into a number of delays. The program is expected to be fully up and running in early 2018.
Here’s the full list of dispensaries that were granted licenses:
credit:420intel.com