Third Centre Region Medical Marijuana Dispensary in the Works

Updated on Dec. 21, 2021 with comment from a Curaleaf spokesperson

Another new State College-area medical marijuana dispensary is slated to open in 2022.

Curaleaf will soon open a dispensary in the former Citizens Bank building at 1248 S. Atherton St. in State College.

A spokesperson said Curaleaf anticipates the shop will open in January. It will employ 20 to 25 people and will offer all forms of cannabis permitted in Pennsylvania, including flower, vape, tinctures, concentrates and more.

Curaleaf currently serves more than 350,000 registered patients through more than 100 dispensaries in 23 states. The company’s closest dispensaries to Centre County are in Altoona and DuBois. It is also planning new locations in Erie, Greensberg and Wayne.

It is the second new dispensary in the works on South Atherton Street and will be the Centre Region’s third since Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program was enacted five years ago.

About a mile away, PharmaCann Inc. plans to open a Verilife dispensary in the former HomeD Pizzeria building at 1820 S. Atherton St., as previously reported by StateCollege.com. The company is now aiming to open in the first quarter of 2022.

“We are moving forward as expeditiously as possible with our planned improvements and construction for a Verilife medical dispensary at 1820 S. Atherton,” a spokesperson for Verilife and PharmaCann wrote in an email. “We are currently working through customary regulatory approvals and buildout, and remain optimistic that we can open our doors to State College patients in the first quarter of 2022.”

Verilife confirmed plans for the College Township location in July, about a month after HomeD closed.

“Verilife simply saw a tremendous opportunity to revitalize this location within the local State College business community and provide an additional access point for medical patients in the greater central Pennsylvania region,” Brandon Nemec, government and regulatory affairs associate for PharmaCann, said at the time.

Verilife currently has seven dispensaries in Pennsylvania, including one in Williamsport.

Nature’s Medicines, 2105 N. Atherton St., is Centre County’s first medical marijuana dispensary and has been in operation since 2018.

More than 633,000 patients and caregivers were registered for Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program as of August, according to Spotlight PA. Patients must register for the program, receive certification from an approved physician that they suffer from a qualifying medical condition and pay $50 for a medical marijuana ID card.