Pa. medical marijuana law signed

YORK, Pa. — Pennsylvania has become the 24th state in the country to legalize medical marijuana.

Gov. Tom Wolf signed the Medical Marijuana Act Sunday, and it will take effect in 30 days.

"Today is your day," Sen. Mike Folmer said to supporters before Wolf signed the bill.

It could take months, possibly a year or more, before marijuana grown in Pennsylvania will be able to treat in-state residents. Growers and processors will have to go through rigorous steps of establishing a new business through the state. Additionally, doctors will have to get the education they need to recommend the drug.

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A legal medical marijuana program in the state would establish no more than 25 growers/processors and 50 dispensaries. Each dispensary can have up to three locations. That program could take several months before implementation, if not a year or more.

These businesses will be overseen by a 15-member Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, which will regulate the drug like the state's Liquor Control Board does with alcohol. The program will be overseen by the state's Department of Health, which would also launch a medical marijuana research program.

The act contains 17 conditions that medical marijuana could treat, ranging from chronic pain to epilepsy to cancer.

After medical marijuana legislation was approved in Maryland in 2013, patients south of the Mason-Dixon Line are still waiting and might not be able to buy the drug until 2017, according to a Washington Post article.

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It took more than a year for dispensaries to open in New York following the Empire State's legalization of the drug in 2014, according to an article by The New York Times.

Patients with an identification card still can't smoke marijuana. And pot can only be put into edible form if it is to help the patient ingest it.

Patients will also be able to take medical marijuana through tinctures, oils and other methods.

Once the act is established, there will be a tax on medical marijuana as well as a system for regulating the price and distribution of it. A computerized registry that updates in real time will contain intricate details of patients, caregivers, physicians and what types and amounts of medical marijuana could be issued. Patients will be issued identification cards from the health department, which will include them in the statewide registry.

The Pennsylvania State Police, physician general, chair of the state's Board of Pharmacy, political appointees and others will have a hand in regulating medical marijuana through the advisory board.

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Doctors will not be able to prescribe marijuana, only recommend it.

Doctors will have to register with the health department before they can recommend medical marijuana as a form of treatment. Physicians who want to certify patients to receive cannabis for treatment will be required to successfully complete a course on the drug.

It's unclear when doctors can begin the registration process.

Follow Mark Walters on Twitter: @walt_walters