Just as the Pennsylvania Department of Health released its final rules for health care professionals on medical marijuana in late July, Thomas Jefferson University’s Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp and Greenhouse Ventures, a medical cannabis business accelerator firm, teamed up for a statewide education tour.
On Wednesday, Sept. 27, health professionals and the public are invited to attend the two-hour course at Celebration Hall in College Township from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. [Register to attend here.]
The Pennsylvania Medicinal Cannabis Education tour has educated more than 200 health professionals so far in its first four events in Philadelphia, Allentown and Pittsburgh, said Tyler Dautrich, of Greenhouse Ventures. Nurses have the largest turnout so far, and organizers said they have also partnered with the Pennsylvania Pain Society, the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association, the Pennsylvania Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the Epilepsy Foundation of Eastern Pennsylvania.
The tour’s course instructor, Dr. Sara Jane Ward, said health professionals will have access to trial data and permitted medical marijuana growers and processors, and updates to the latest recommendations concerning the dispensing of medical marijuana.
“One of the most common misconceptions within the health care community is that scientific evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of cannabinoid-based therapy doesn’t exist,” Ward said in a release. “It does exist, but it has been limited in the past due to many factors. However, we do have clinical trial data that support the use of medical marijuana for some very important conditions such as chronic pain.”
Ward is an assistant professor at the Center for Substance Abuse and Research at the School of Medicine at Temple University.
Act 16 of 2016 established the state’s Medical Marijuana Program. Under current guidelines, medical marijuana cards will only be issued to those with serious medical conditions such as cancer, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder, among others. Cards can only be obtained by going through a doctor.
Processors and distributors will only be able to sell medical marijuana in the form of a pill, oil, topicals, tinctures, liquids and other forms that can be vaporized, excluding dry leaf or plant form, according to the DOH.
In June, the DOH approved 27 medical marijuana distributors in the state. Pennsylvania Health and Wellness received a permit in June for a Patton Township location.
Earlier this month, KeyStone ReLeaf, an unsuccessful applicant for one of the state’s 12 grower-processor permits, filed a lawsuit asking for Commonwealth Court to issue an injunction to stop the medical marijuana program, claiming the process for awarding grower-processor and dispensary permits was biased. The lawsuit could delay implementation of the program.
