Anyone who's worried that the Lehigh Valley will be awash in marijuana when Pennsylvania's medical cannabis system kicks off in 2018 can exhale.
The Valley will be limited to two dispensary operators and, at most, two grower/processors in the first phase of the program, under guidelines issued Wednesday in an update from Health Secretary Dr. Karen Murphy.
Pennsylvania's medical marijuana program, signed into law in April, requires a regional distribution of dispensary and grower/processor permits, but the details were one of the law's biggest unknowns. The Department of Health cleared that up Thursday.
The department will put permit applications for growers, processors and distributors on its website beginning Jan. 17, she said. Applications will be accepted between Feb. 20 and March 20, with permits issued in phases.
