Act 16, which was signed by Gov. Tom Wolf on April 27, legalized medical marijuana under certain parameters (see 35 P.S. Section 10231.101-35 P.S. Section 10231.2110). Once signed, the new law will take between 18 to 24 months to implement. The Department of Health will implement the law and run the medical marijuana program. The DOH had until Nov. 17 to start publishing temporary regulations, but issued the first round of temporary rules by the end of the summer. These rules will relate to rules for applications, ID cards, licenses, growers, processors, dispensers, etc. The advisory board at the DOH that will regulate medical marijuana will include three law enforcement personnel, several medical and health experts, and at least one patient advocate. Sections 1901-1908; 2000-2003 establish and relate to a research program, while a number of additional sections concern criminal activity.

Section 301 of the statute establishes the program and indicates that the DOH will be responsible for issuing permits, register participants and practitioners, maintain a database, handle issuing of identification cards, monitor growth, possession, transfer, testing and dispensing, develop training courses for physicians in the program, maintain a directory, report unauthorized activity, manage public outreach, restrict advertising, promulgate regulations, handle recordkeeping, and will have regulatory and executive authority. All such patient and permit information is confidential under Section 302.

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