By: Kenneth C. Foltz, Sr., Esq.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy yesterday announced the release of the proposed temporary regulations for physicians that intend to participate in the state’s medical marijuana program.
The Department of Health will be seeking comments and questions until April 20th on the proposed regulations.
“The process for a patient to obtain medical marijuana will begin with the physician, so it’s vital to ensure that our regulatory process for those physicians is open and transparent,” stated Secretary Murphy. “Our focus remains to implement a patient-focused medical marijuana program that gives help to those who need it, and these temporary regulations mark an important step forward in achieving that goal.”
Jose Javier Hidalgo, CEO of Knox Medical, commented on the critical role that physicians will play in the medical marijuana program in Pennsylvania. “Knox Medical is dedicated to compassionately provide patients access to the highest level of medical cannabis in an unrivaled, professional healthcare environment,” said Jose. “To meet these extremely high expectations we set for ourselves, physicians must fulfill a central function in this process. Doctors understandably deserve full clarity and clear guidelines from the Department of Health in order to best care for their patients. Pennsylvania should be commended for proceeding deliberately in providing temporary regulations for physicians and giving support to patients who require medicinal cannabis.” Knox Medical is part of a group that has applied for a grower processor license and a dispensary license in Pennsylvania and is a licensed grower, processor and dispensary operator in both Florida and Puerto Rico.
The state is working to enable medical marijuana products to be available to patients in calendar year 2018. Applications for grower and processor licenses and dispensary licenses were due to the Department of Health on March 20th. The Department of Health has not disclosed how many applications have been received at this time.
Information related to the proposed regulations for physicians as well as information on the entire program is available at www.health.pa.gov.
If you are interested in receiving information regarding the provisions that will govern physicians’ critical role in the Medical Marijuana Program or any other aspect of this rapidly developing industry, please email Ken Foltz at kfoltz@leechtishman.com. Ken is a Partner in Leech Tishman’s Real Estate, Corporate, and Energy Groups. He is also Chair of the Medical Marijuana Subgroup. Ken is based in the firm’s Pittsburgh office. Ken can be reached at 412.261.1600.
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