By Bronte Price, PoliticKING
Update 4/18: Pennsylvania has officially become the 24th state to legalize medical marijuana. Gov. Tom Wolf signed the bill into law Sunday afternoon in Harrisburg, PA.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed the latest version of Senate Bill 3 on Wednesday, which would legalize medical marijuana. Now it's up to Governor Tom Wolf, who has 10 days to sign the bill into law, and he's expected to sign without hesitation. Pennsylvania will become the 24th state to legalize a comprehensive program allowing the use medical marijuana.
“I am proud and excited to sign this bill that will provide long overdue medical relief to patients and families who could benefit from this treatment,” Wolf said Wednesday in a statement. “I applaud members of both parties in the House and Senate who have come together to help patients who have run out of medical options and want to thank the thousands of advocates who have fought tirelessly for this cause.”
JUST IN: Pennsylvania legislature passes medical marijuana bill; governor expected to sign. https://t.co/4mFc6WU6u0 - @NBCPhiladelphia
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) April 13, 2016
The bill will allow patients suffering from 17 different qualified conditions to access full strength cannabis products from 50 dispensaries across Pennsylvania. According to High Times, the conditions which allow use are cancer, HIV/AIDS, ALS, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies, Huntington's disease, Crohn's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, intractable seizures, glaucoma, sickle cell anemia, autism, neuropathic pain, and severe chronic or intractable pain in which conventional therapies, including prescription opiates, are ineffective.
The medical marijuana program will prohibit the use of smokable marijuana and will instead provide patients with products in the form of pills, oils, and tinctures. Dispensaries will also sell liquid cannabis for patients who want to use a vaporizer. In addition, none of these items will be subject to any tax
Here’s what Jesse Ventura has to say about legalizing marijuana:
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