Bill Would Allow All Pennsylvania Medical Cannabis Growers to Pursue Retail Licenses

All 25 of Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis grower/processor licensees may soon be able to obtain retail licenses under a bill that the state Legislature signed off on Dec. 12.

Senate Bill 773 would remove provisions in Pennsylvania’s 2016 medical cannabis law that allowed only five grower/processor licensees to become vertically integrated with dispensary licenses.

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Chris Gebhard, R-Lebanon County, aims to break up a retail market that lawmakers have claimed is controlled by only a few companies, a situation they said resulted from the limit on vertically integrated operators.

The Pennsylvania Senate approved the bill in September in a 44-3 vote, and the House approved a slightly revised version of the legislation last month in a 114-89 vote.

Since lawmakers amended the bill in the House, it required a final vote in the Senate before heading to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk.

Amendments in the House included adding language that allows independent dispensaries to apply for cultivation licenses, according to a Penn Live report.

House lawmakers also reduced the number of dispensary licenses that independent grower/processors could receive from two to one, the news outlet reported, which drew criticism from Gebhard.

“That’s certainly frustrating to us because we did a lot of market research and calculations in terms of what we determined should be two permits versus one,” he said, adding that lawmakers have put prospective grower/retailers “in a very difficult position long term to compete in the marketplace.”

Despite the amendments in the House, the Senate concurred on the House version of the bill Tuesday, sending it to Shapiro for final approval.

With the governor’s signature, all independent medical cannabis grower/processors would be able to apply for a dispensary license that would allow each licensee to open up to three retail locations. In addition, all independent dispensaries would be able to apply for licenses to grow and manufacture their own cannabis products.

S.B. 773 would also bar grower/processors and dispensaries from transferring their licenses to other entities for a period of time, Penn Live reported, to prevent larger companies from acquiring the independent growers and retailers.