A bill which will allow all licensed medical cannabis growers and processors in Pennsylvania to sell directly to patients has been approved by the state’s senate.
Senate Bill 773 won overwhelming bipartisan support, seeing 44 senators vote in favour and just three voting against.
According to local news publication Penn Live, several senators have also suggested the bill should become a vehicle for further liberalisation of cannabis laws.
Under current legislation, only 25 businesses can be licenced to grow and process medical cannabis, with only five of those able to sell directly to patients, and the rest forced to sell to ‘middleman’ dispensaries.
The bill seeks to alleviate the near monopoly these five companies have on the market by enabling the other licenced growers to begin selling directly to patients.
Senate Majority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny County, said Pennsylvania is currently in a ‘monopoly-type situation with out of state, multi-state organisations coming in to the detriment of these independent growers’.
Following this week’s approval, the bill will now head to the House where it has been suggested further measures, including home cultivation and personal use, could be added.
