HARRISBURG (Web Desk) – Pennsylvania has become the 24th US state to legalise marijuana for medical purposes.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Sunday signed the bill surrounded by a crowd of supporters, including lawmakers on both sides who worked to get the bill passed.
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The law takes effect next month, the UPI reported.
“All we’re asking here is to have the ability for doctors to make to decisions that will make patients’ lives better,” Wolf tweeted after the signing.
Governor Wolf: “This is a great day for Pennsylvania and a great day for Pennsylvanians.” #MMJ
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) April 17, 2016
People with various conditions that can be alleviated with marijuana use will be able to get it from up to 150 Department of Health-approved dispensaries across the state, providing of course they have a doctor’s prescription.
“We stopped being liberals and started being problem solvers, and we stopped being conservatives and started being compromisers,” said Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Pa. “And we stopped being politicians and started being human beings.”
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Some patients will be allowed to cross state lines to access medical dispensaries in neighbouring states as the program might take up to two years to be fully implemented.
Cannabis remains illegal throughout the United States and is not approved for prescription as medicine, although 24 states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington – as well as the District of Columbia approve and regulate its medical use. (The Federal government continues to enforce its prohibition in these states.)
