Eight Universities approved as certified medical marijuana research centers

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has approved eight universities as Certified Academic Clinical Research Centers in the commonwealth’s marijuana program, Gov. Tom Wolf announced this week.

“The research component of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program sets it apart from the rest of the nation,” Wolf said. “Today, medical research is so limited by the federal government that only a few doctors can even have access to medical marijuana. Pennsylvania’s premiere medical schools will be able to help shape the future of treatment for patients who are in desperate need not just here, but across the country.”

The universities approved include Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh, and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie as well as Drexel University College of Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine all located in Philadelphia.

In its announcement, the Department of Health also approved temporary regulations to implement recommendations made by the Medical Marijuana Advisory Board in the May 12 Pennsylvanian Bulletin. The temporary regulations will go into effect on May 17.

“We have expanded the number of serious medical conditions to include neurodegenerative diseases, terminal illness, dyskinetic and spastic movement disorders and opioid-use disorder,” Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said. “It’s important to note that medical marijuana is not a substitute for proven treatments for opioid-use disorder. In Pennsylvania, medical marijuana will be available to patients if all other treatment fails, or if a physician recommends that it be used in conjunction with traditional therapies.”

Pennsylvania is the first state to add opioid-use disorder separately as an approved condition for medical marijuana patients. Levine said that in doing so, physicians will not only have an additional avenue to treat opioid-use disorders but will also allow for expanded research in the effectiveness of medical marijuana on these disorders.

Other recommendations included revising the serious chronic pain definition to no longer require patients to use opioids before using medical marijuana, permitting medical marijuana to be dispensed in dry leaf or plant form for administration by vaporization, allowing doctors to opt out of the publicly available practitioner list while remaining in the Patient and Caregiver Registry, and, finally, requiring patients to pay the $50 medical marijuana identification card fee once in a 12-month period.

The Medical Marijuana Program was signed into law by Wolf on April 17, 2016, and more than 37,000 patients have registered to participate. The program has approved six training providers for physician continuing education and four laboratories to test medication before it is delivered. Additionally, more than 31,000 medical marijuana products have been dispensed through the program, and 23 dispensaries and 12 grower/processors have been approved to begin operations.