Medical pot interest still growing

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on February 4, 2015

Medical marijuana is once again on the radar of Pennsylvania legislators. While Senate Bill 1182 died in the state House last session, SB 3, a similar bill, is now in the Senate’s State Government Committee.

Sen. Mike Folmer, R-48, Lebanon County and parts of York and Dauphin counties, who introduced SB 3, is that committee’s chairman. Committee vice chairman is Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9, representing parts of Chester and Delaware counties.

Pileggi did not respond to requests for comment, but he did support SB 1182 last session.

Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-19, West Chester, also supported SB 1182, and Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-26, whose district includes eastern Delaware County and two townships in Chester County, announced last week that he’s signed on as a sponsor of SB 3.

Some members of the state House of Representatives are also anticipating moving forward with medical marijuana. According to an Associated Press report, House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-62, Indiana County, told members of the Pennsylvania Press Club that he hopes the House will advance a bill that would satisfy the House, the Senate, and Gov. Tom Wolf.

"We've got too many kids and too many citizens in general who can potentially benefit from the use of medical marijuana," Reed said in that AP story.

While Reed favors medical marijuana, he’s not looking for full legalization. He reportedly told the Press Club, “one step at a time.”

Local state Rep. Stephen Barrar, R-160, parts of Delaware and Chester counties, who announced last year that he had changed his mind on the issue, said in an interview that he still supports the concept, but that understanding the details is important.

Barrar said he doesn’t know why SB 1182 died in the House last year, he but thinks it has to do with amendments that House members were looking to get passed along with the body of the bill. One question involves who will be responsible for dispensing the marijuana.

“A lot of people want to see a lot of different restrictions. For me, and a lot of other members, we want to see it dispensed by pharmacists. The problem is, because the federal government has not legalized it, the pharmacists can’t handle it,” Barrar said. “Who is going to be responsible for dispensing medical marijuana if the pharmacists can’t do it?”

Another sticking point centers on what conditions the law will allow to be treated with marijuana. SB 3 does not mention any conditions, and Barrar said amendments would determine what conditions would be treatable.

Acknowledging he hasn’t yet read SB 3, Barrar said he wouldn’t want a system such as the one in California in which “everybody who’s got a fingernail pain is going to their doctor to get a [prescription] for medical marijuana.”

Should SB 3 get to the House, Barrar anticipates many amendments that would add restrictions for dispensing and allowable uses.

According to the text of SB 3 in its current form, a state board would “license not more than 130 medical cannabis dispensers to accept medical cannabis access cards and dispense medical cannabis to a registered patient or patient representative in accordance with the instructions of a health care practitioner.”

Those dispensers would be geographically located to allow for “reasonable access” to all legitimate users.

In addition to the 130 dispensers, the state would also license no more than 65 growers, according to the bill.

The text of SB 3 can be found here.

In a Dec. 3 memo, Folmer said: “Our legislation as previously passed by the Senate would allow patients who have a recommendation from their doctor to purchase and use medical cannabis from centers licensed by a to-be-created State Board of Medical Cannabis Licensing. The entire process would be regulated by licensing: medical cannabis growers, processors, and dispensers.”

The memo also said the focus was on marijuana with high levels of cannabidiol, or CBD, a non-psychoactive component of marijuana. CBD has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, the memo said.

Strains used would also be low in the psychoactive cannabinoid THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol.

The memo can be found here.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.