Six years after the idea was germinated, the nation’s first state-authorized medical marijuana research program is being launched in Philadelphia, state officials said. Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University announced this week that they are recruiting patients for the first of two studies.
A deal to create America’s largest marijuana-dispensary chain may be derailed as Pennsylvania regulators take a closer look at the company’s operations in the state.
Arizona-based Harvest Health and Recreation of Arizona, which has cannabis operations in multiple states, announced last week that it was acquiring CannaPharmacy Inc., a company with presence in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and neighboring states.
A spokesperson for the department tells The Philadelphia Inquirer they issued the ban last week because the Pennsylvania Cannabis Festival in Scranton is not a "medically focused event."
Festival organizer Jeff Zick said he stands to lose tens of thousands of dollars after dispensaries paid more than $8,000 each to set up booths at the festival.
About 10,000 people are expected to attend the fifth annual free event held April 20.
A new complaint in Commonwealth Court seeks again to stop the state's much-vaunted cannabis research program before it can get off the ground.
The filing Tuesday by a group of current medical marijuana growers and dispensary operators raises several concerns about appearances of pay-to-play and says the participants in the research program won't be required to do more than promise to conduct scientific studies.