The Department of Health Wednesday announced it has approved Ilera Healthcare’s medical marijuana dispensary in Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County, as the state’s third dispensary authorized to begin serving patients.
“With each announcement of dispensary approvals, we are getting closer to providing medical marijuana to patients with serious medical conditions who desperately need this medication,” Gov. Tom Wolf said. “Once the growing process is completed and the dispensary receives medication, patients and caregivers with medical marijuana identification cards will be able to purchase medication.”
Ilera Healthcare will be able to sell medical marijuana to Pennsylvanians with medical marijuana identification cards once grower/processors begin distribution, sometime in the next four months.
More than 14,000 patients have registered to participate in the medical marijuana program, with more than 2,300 certified by a physician.
In order to become operational, the dispensaries and grower/processors underwent several inspections from the Department of Health. The facilities also are fully integrated with the seed-to-sale tracking system. The grower/processors will now be able to begin accepting seeds and clones to grow medical marijuana.
“Our team is working to make sure that all of the remaining grower/processors and dispensaries are ready to operate safely and according to the law,” Acting Health Secretary and Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine said. “We anticipate more dispensaries to be able to open their doors in the coming weeks. Our medical marijuana program will be ready for full operation within the 18 to 24-month time-frame Gov. Wolf set out when he signed the legislation into law.”
Physicians continue to register to participate in the program. To date, 652 have registered and of those, 326 have completed the training to become certified practitioners.
“Physicians play a critical role in this medically focused program,” Dr. Levine said. “The response has been encouraging from the medical community as more doctors are becoming educated on how medical marijuana can help their patients.”
For more information on the program, visit the Department of Health’s Medical Marijuana Program webpage.
