Medical Marijuana Bill Passed in Pennsylvania

Photo provided by Pixabay

Photo provided by Pixabay

On July 14, 2015, Green Thumb Industries presented state legislators of Washington County in Hagerstown, MD with a proposal to build an indoor medical marijuana-cultivation facility. They planned to have the facility built in the local Hopewell Valley Industrial Park. What was a tentative idea at the time came with a lot of promise. The Washington County Board of Commissioners endorsed the proposal, as noted by the Herald Mail. Green Thumb Industries anticipated that through this endorsement, they would be able to create hundreds of new jobs for the area. They also guaranteed enhancing the local economy by pumping four to seven million dollars into it if they were to secure one of the 15 projected state licenses.

As of April 17, 2016, Governor Tom Wolf signed The Medical Marijuana Act making Pennsylvania the 24th state to legalize medical marijuana. With this legalization, the Department of Health will regulate 25 processors and growers along with 50 dispensaries according to the Marijuana Policy Project. With the signing of this medicinal bill comes the concern of its abuse from college students. A group of randomly selected students from Lehigh University were assessed on the range of different health issues among college students. Data collected showed that 15.8% of the students used marijuana 30 days prior to the assessment. With the usage so prevalent, regulation is necessary.

The passing of this bill will not only benefit patients and families in need of this treatment, but it will also benefit the economy according to ABC News. This bill will also allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients in pill, oil, and liquid form while treating conditions such as cancer, HIV, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other common conditions.

 

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