Harrisburg, PA - The Department of Health today announced that Harvest of Northwest PA, LLC in New Castle and Harvest of North Central PA, LLC in Shamokin have relinquished the medical marijuana dispensary permits issued to them as part of a settlement with the department.
On December 18, 2018, the department granted dispensary permits to six distinct Harvest entities. However, the fact that each used some form of the Harvest name, coupled with public statements made by an affiliate company, Harvest Health and Recreation, Inc., gave the public appearance that all permittees were in fact one single entity holding more than the five permits per person allowed by statute.
Additionally, during the construction of these dispensaries, the department learned that the Harvest entities had utilized construction contractors not identified in the permit applications without notifying the department or seeking approval for the substitution, which is a regulatory requirement.
“Our medical marijuana program has been successful in its focus to provide evidence-based, quality options for patients suffering from serious medical conditions,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “In order to ensure that this program is successful, we have a statute and regulations in place for those companies looking to hold permits as either grower/processors or dispensaries. Companies interested in being part of this program must be aware of the law and abide by it.”
Rather than continuing to engage in prolonged legal action, which would delay patient access to medication for those suffering with any of 23 serious medical conditions, a settlement was reached after both parties worked closely together to resolve all outstanding issues. This settlement allows Harvest to move forward with the process of operationalizing the following entities:
Harvest of Southwest PA, LLC, of Johnstown;
Harvest of South Central PA, LLC, of Harrisburg;
Harvest of Southeast PA, LLC of Reading; and
Harvest of Northeast PA, LLC of Scranton.
These locations will be in addition to SMPB Retail, LLC doing business as Harvest of Reading; a Phase I dispensary that is already operational.
There are close to 121,000 active patient certifications as part of the medical marijuana program. More than 1,650 physicians have registered for the program, more than 1,190 of whom have been approved as practitioners.
The medical marijuana program was signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf on April 17, 2016. Since that time, the department has:
- Completed temporary regulations to enact the program;
- Convened the Medical Marijuana Advisory Board;
- Approved six training providers for physician continuing education;
- Approved four laboratories to test medication before it is delivered to patients;
- Registered more than 182,000 total patients and issued more than 154,000 identification cards;
- Validated more than 1.6 million dispensing events with more than 4.4 million products sold;
- Issued 25 grower/processors permits, 18 of which are operational;
- Issued 50 dispensary permits and approved 60 locations to begin operations;
- Certified eight medical schools as Academic Clinical Research Centers; and
- Approved three clinical registrants.
The medical marijuana program offers medical marijuana to patients who are residents of Pennsylvania and under a practitioner’s care for the treatment of a serious medical condition as defined by the Medical Marijuana Law.
For more information about the medical marijuana program, visit www.medicalmarijuana.pa.gov or follow the Department of Health on Facebook and Twitter.
MEDIA CONTACT: Nate Wardle, 717-787-1783 or ra-dhpressoffice@pa.gov
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