Harrisburg, PA - The Wolf Administration today released applications for entities to become Clinical Registrants (CRs) as part of the research portion of the state’s medical marijuana program.
“We are looking forward to continuing to grow our essential research portion of the medical marijuana program by adding to our already approved clinical registrants,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “These entities will work alongside the Academic Clinical Research Centers (ACRCs) to ensure that patients with serious medical conditions get the most benefit. The work done by the ACRCs and CRs has the potential to help patients diagnosed with serious medical conditions such as cancer, PTSD, and individuals who are struggling with opioid use disorder.”
The research program, guided by Act 43 of 2018, allows for eight CRs, three of which have been approved. The CR will serve as both the grower/processor and the dispensary, assisting the ACRCs with growing, processing and dispensing medical marijuana for research. Each potential CR must either hold, or apply for, a grower/processor permit and a dispensary permit from the department. Each potential CR must also include a research contract with a certified ACRC in their application and include a description of the research program the pair intends to conduct. If approved, the CR may not hold more than one grower/processor permit and one dispensary permit. Applications are available now on the Department of Health’s medical marijuana website and must be postmarked on or before the October 10, 2019 deadline.
There are close to 125,000 active patients as part of the medical marijuana program. Nearly 1,700 physicians have registered for the program 1,201 of whom have been approved as practitioners.
The medical marijuana program was signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf on April 17, 2016. Since that time, the department has:
- Completed temporary regulations to enact the program;
- Convened the Medical Marijuana Advisory Board;
- Approved six training providers for physician continuing education;
- Approved four laboratories to test this medication before it is delivered to patients;
- Registered more than 189,000 patients and issued more than 161,000 identification cards;
- Validated more than 1.7 million dispensing events with nearly 4.7 million products sold;
- Issued 25 grower/processors permits, 19 of which are operational;
- Issued 50 dispensary permits and approved 60 locations to begin operations;
- Certified eight medical schools as Academic Clinical Research Centers; and
- Approved three clinical registrants.
The medical marijuana program offers medical marijuana to patients who are residents of Pennsylvania and under an approved practitioner’s care for the treatment of a serious medical condition as defined by the Medical Marijuana Law.
For more information about the medical marijuana program, visit www.medicalmarijuana.pa.gov or follow the Department of Health on Facebook and Twitter.
MEDIA CONTACT: Nate Wardle, 717-787-1783 or ra-dhpressoffice@pa.gov
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