Pennsylvania is considering tightening the rules for physicians providing medical marijuana recommendations.
Pennsylvania’s MMJ program has been a success with total sales nearing $7 billion from 2020 through 2024, but lawmakers are starting to question whether it’s too easy to obtain a patient registration, according to Spotlight PA.
So the state House has passed a bill – introduced by Republican Rep. Tim Twardzik – that would allow the Pennsylvania health department to:
- Limit the number of recommendations an individual physician can issue.
- Impose a probationary period for recommending physicians.
- Require a recommending doctor to be supervised by another physician.
- Impose any other restrictions or rules that state health regulators decide “is necessary to protect the health and safety of patients in the program.”
Such limitations could negatively impact the bottom line for Pennsylvania’s 186 medical marijuana dispensaries, which, according to Spotlight PA, are operated by roughly 40 companies, including multistate operators.
The legislation passed 194-8 on a vote of the full state House, according to Spotlight PA, and advanced to the Senate Law and Justice Committee.
Pennsylvania’s MMJ registry has grown from 343,634 active patients in May 2021 to 440,733 as of November 2024, according to the most recent state data available.
Meanwhile, almost 2,000 doctors are currently permitted to write medical marijuana recommendations, up from about 1,500 in the same time frame.
However, according to a recent series by Spotlight PA, a relatively small percentage of doctors write the majority of recommendations.
And that’s partially what’s inspired lawmakers to ramp up scrutiny of Pennsylvania’s MMJ program, the news outlet reported.
“I think that there are real concerns with this program, and that there’s a real need for better oversight from the Department of Health,” said Democratic state Rep. Arvind Venkat, a physician who does not write MMJ recommendations, according to Spotlight PA.
Neither lawmakers nor the outlet specified exactly what risks Pennsylvania’s MMJ program poses to patients’ health.
Pennsylvania law stipulates that patients must suffer from a specific ailment to qualify for medical marijuana access.
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