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Pennsylvania Launches Online Medical Marijuana Registry For Doctors

Pennsylvania Launches Registry for Medical Marijuana Prescribers

Medical Marijuana

Pennsylvania Launches Online Medical Marijuana Registry For Doctors

Medical marijuana passed in PA last year. Now even more progress is being made to help patients get access to the medicine they need.

Doctors who are eager to join the Pennsylvania medical marijuana program are in luck. The Department of Health recently announced that they have officially launched an online registration system that will allow interested physicians to take the steps to start to prescribe their patients cannabis.

Online registration is open

The Department of Health just launched an online registry for pot-friendly physicians. The state’s Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine showed excitement about this important step for the Pennsylvania medical marijuana program. While the program is still in its infancy, Dr. Levine seems to be hopeful about what it can accomplish for Pennsylvania residents.

In an official statement, she cited the main goal of the program: total patient-focused healthcare. She also expressed empathy for both the patients and the doctors who treat them. “Many physicians treat these patients every day and understand the impact this medication could have on their treatment,” she said.

How to register

Doctors in Pennsylvania who are looking forward to legally prescribing cannabis will soon be able to do so. But there are additional things they must do. According to the state’s Department of Health, physicians must take the following steps to participate in the Pennsylvania medical marijuana program:

  1. Apply for registration with the Department of Health
  2. Demonstrate that they are qualified to treat serious maladies
  3. Successfully complete a four-hour course about medical marijuana
  4. Possess a valid license to practice medicine that has never been revoked or suspended

Once interested doctors complete these tasks, they will have the authorization to prescribe their patients weed.

The Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program

Pennsylvania Launches Registry for Medical Marijuana Prescribers

In 2016, the Pennsylvania Senate and Pennsylvania House voted to pass a bill that would clear the way to implement a medical marijuana program. When both legal bodies came to the decision that medical cannabis would improve the health and the lives of Pennsylvanians, the bill went to Governor Tom Wolf.

Because Wolf had always been a vocal advocate for medical marijuana, he signed the bill into a law without hesitation. And with that, Pennsylvania became the 24th state in the nation to have a medical marijuana program.

Currently, there are seventeen conditions that allow a patient access to medical cannabis. The conditions include HIV/AIDS, Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome, glaucoma, and epilepsy. Since the medical marijuana program is still new, there’s always the possibility that lawmakers will add more qualifying conditions to the list.

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