More than 4,000 patients have been certified to use medical marijuana in Pennsylvania and Thursday they finally had the chance to receive their medicine. The first sales began in western Pennsylvania with the very first purchase by a woman who lobbied for the law’s passage.
Diana Briggs says medical marijuana limits her teenage son from 400 seizures a day down to 50. The $178 worth of product, including tincture and capsules, she bought Thursday will last through the month, she said.
-
Related Story:Â Pennsylvania Gives Green Light For First Marijuana Crop
“A very long and winding, four-year journey brought me here today,” Briggs told the Associated Press. “I have been crying all day.”
More stores eastward are expected to open throughout the following days.
However, activists maintain that Pennsylvania has one of the most limiting medical marijuana programs in the country. Pennsylvania law only allows for the sale of marijuana in oils, tinctures, concentrates, and extracts. Edibles and smokable flowers remains prohibited. Medical insurance currently doesn’t provide for medical marijuana, including doctor appointments and the drug itself.
-
Related Story:Â Will Marijuana Legalization Help Democrats Win Red States?
Governor Tom Wolfe, who oversaw the law’s passage, announced Pennsylvania’s first day of sales as a historic event for the state. Qualifying conditions for the program include AIDS, autism, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, cancer, Crohn’s disease, and epilepsy.
