First year of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana sales: Plenty of patients, a trickle of taxes

Pennsylavania's medical marijuana program recently finished it's first full year of operation and with over 116,000 registered patients and almost 1,000 certified physicians it seems to be off to a great start. Officials say their goals are to continue increasing the number of growers and dispensaries to help facilitate the large amount of patients. The state saw almost 600,000 transactions for medical marijuana making $132,000 million in sales, but the tax revenue for Pennsylvania came in a just over $2 million. Though sales began last February, at the time only oils, tinctures and pills were allowed. It wasn't until August that smokable flower was permitted for sale. Pennsylvania medical marijuana patients can qualify with one of 21 different conditions including autism, ulcerative colitis, PTSD, chronic pain and others, with more like anxiety and Tourette's syndrome being considered. 

“Our goal for the next year and beyond is to increase the number of grower/processors and dispensaries operating, to register even more physicians, and to continue the growth of our scientific, medically based program,” said Secretary of Health Rachel Levine.