The governor of Pennsylvania has signed a bill to allow all licensed medical marijuana grower-processors in the state to serve as retailers and sell their cannabis products directly to patients.
Just two days after the Senate gave final approval to the legislation—which was amended to further grant grower permits to independent dispensaries—Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) signed it into law on Thursday.
Under the measure, sponsored by Sen. Chris Gebhard (R), the state Department of Health will create a process to allow the state’s 10 independent marijuana grower-processors to apply to obtain a dispensary permit to engage in direct commerce with patients. Meanwhile, the state’s four independent dispensaries can also get grower permits to cultivate products in-house.
This replaces the current law that states no more than five of the state’s 25 grower-processor license holders can also hold dispensary licenses. Others must sell their products to a licensed dispensary, which in turn can sell products to patients.
This has created a near-monopoly in the state, giving select out-of-state operators dominance over the industry, and supporters say allowing independent in-state growers to vertically integrate represents a partial remedy.
A fiscal note posted last month also estimates that the reform would bring in
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