A Republican Pennsylvania senator says he will soon be introducing a bill to give independent, in-state medical marijuana growers a chance to sell directly to patients—a reform he says is much needed amid increased industry consolidation.
In a cosponsorship memo circulated last week, Sen. Chris Gebhard (R) said that his legislation would create a new permitting process, allowing any Pennsylvania-based “independent” cannabis grower/processor to open dispensaries as vertically integrated businesses.
Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana law currently says that only 25 businesses can be licensed for marijuana growing and processing, and only five of those licensees can sell directly to patients through vertically integrated dispensaries.
Gebhard said that the Department of Health’s currently permitting rules have “created an unfair system for getting products to patients.”
“The most evenhanded solution to this problem would be to issue two permits to all the independent Pennsylvania based grower/processors who do not currently have one,” he wrote to colleagues. “This will create a free and fair market and will allow these businesses to operate on the same playing field as their competitors.”
While Pennsylvania has yet to enact adult-use legalization, there’s a growing expectation that the state will eventually follow others in the region and begin
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