By Carley Mossbrook
Staff Writer
Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (Jan. 17) – As of Tuesday afternoon, Pennsylvanians looking to grow and sell medical marijuana can apply for one of the state’s 12 growing permits and 27 dispensary permits.
Marking the beginning of Phase One of the state’s program, the state Department of Health hosted a media webinar Tuesday afternoon to outline the application process and timeline for granting permits to an estimated 900 interested applicants.
Printable applications and instructions will be available on the Department of Health website as of 3 p.m. Tuesday, and the department will begin accepting applications and associated fees Feb. 20 through March 20.
Completed applications must include documents that detail property title, lease or option to acquire property location information; personal identification of the applicant; site and facility plans; affidavits of business history, criminal offenses and capital sufficiency; and samples of medical marijuana product labels, among other documents. Applications can only be submitted to the department through the U.S. Postal Service.
It is anticipated that a review of the applications will take at least 90 days from the date the department closes the application period, said John Collins, director of the program, and the timeframe for when patients can start purchasing the products is scheduled for summer of 2018.
In addition to completing an application, those applying to grow medical marijuana will need to pay a nonrefundable $10,000 application fee, while those seeking to sell the product will be required to pay $5,000 per application, which is also nonrefundable.
Interested parties can submit as many applications as they prefer, though they will need to pay the fee for each application, said April Hutcheson, spokeswoman for the department.
Those applying for a permit should review Act 16 and all regulations related to the industry, Hutcheson advised, including the breakdown of where dispensaries and processing locations can reside.
Under the program, the state has been split into six regions – Northwest, Northcentral, Northeast, Southwest, Southcentral and Southeast.
Two permits to grow and process medical marijuana are available in each region, however, the number of dispensary permits varies according to location, with more populated regions offering more permits.
The number of dispensary permits allocated to each region and the primary dispensary locations within those regions are as follows:
• Region 1, Southeast: one permit each for Berks County, Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County and Lancaster County, two permits in Montgomery County and three permits in Philadelphia County for a total of 10 permits;
• Region 2, Northeast: one permit each for Lackawanna County, Lehigh County, Luzerne County, and Northampton County for a total of four permits;
• Region 3, Southcentral: one permit each for Blair County, Cumberland County, Dauphin County and York County for a total of four permits;
• Region 4, Northcentral: one permit each for Centre County and Lycoming County for a total of two permits;
• Region 5, Southwest: one permit in each Butler County, Washington County and Westmoreland County and two permits in Allegheny County for a total of five permits; and
• Region 6, Northwest: one permit in Erie County and one in McKean County.
Upon approval, growers will be required to pay a $200,000 permit fee and dispensers a $30,000 permit fee.
Dispensers are allowed, if approved, to open up to two other dispensaries in addition to their primary location. A secondary dispensary must fall within the same region as the primary dispensary, but can’t be in the same county as the primary dispensary or the same county as another secondary dispensary owned by the same individual.
However, a secondary dispensary can fall within a county that houses another primary or secondary dispensary owned by another dispenser.
For example, if an applicant is granted a permit to open a primary location in Centre County, he or she can open a secondary dispensary in Bradford County and another in Columbia County. However, the dispenser could not open a secondary location in Centre County or two within Bradford County.
The dispenser would also be required to pay a permit fee for each location.
The Department of Health will be accepting questions about the application process through email at [email protected]. Answers to the questions will be periodically published on the department’s website.
-30-
