On August 18, 2016, Secretary of Health, Karen Murphy held a press conference to give four important updates on Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program. One update was the previous announcement of John Collins named as the director of the Office of Medical Marijuana.
The biggest update was Secretary Murphy’s announcement that the Department of Health finished drafting temporary regulations for growers/processors. The DOH website includes two sets of draft regulations. The first is a general set of regulations focused primarily on the permit and application process. The second set of draft regulations is titled as specific set for growers/processors and is primarily focused on operational requirements. The draft regulations will be available for review and feedback on the DOH’s website until August 26, 2018. This is an important opportunity for those interested in Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program to help shape the regulations with any input and feedback.
The second update was the release of a survey on the DOH’s website seeking input from the patient and caregiver community. The update states that the survey’s purpose is to help in drafting regulations but the survey is primarily focused in what patient /caregiver information should be required in their respective applications and what information should be on the their respective identification cards. The questions concerning information visible on the identification cards may raise some issues with regards to privacy.
The third update was concerning Safe Harbor Letter. The Secretary announced that 53 Safe Harbor Letters had been approved to date and that the DOH is processing another ten more applications. The Safe Harbor Letter allows parents, legal guardians, caregivers and spouses of minors under the age of 18 certified with serious with medical conditions to posses marijuana in its approved from for the minor within Pennsylvania. The next question is where will these 53 possessors of Safe Harbor Letters obtain the approved form of medical marijuana. Maryland has just started to issue dispensary permits and that may in the near future be an initial source of medical marijuana.
If you would like to read more of Secretary Murphy’s updates, you may visit the website below.
https://www.governor.pa.gov/four-important-updates-you-need-to-know-about-pas-medical-marijuana-program/
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Published by Jorge Pereira, Esq.
I was born in Portugal and raised in Bethlehem after immigrating with his family to the Lehigh Valley at the age of 2.
I attended Rutgers University, New Brunswick graduating with B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Psychology. After graduating with honors from Rutgers University, I attended Rutgers-Newark Law School. While at Rutgers-Newark Law School, I was part of Appellate Moot Court, Urban Legal Clinic and the Animal Rights Clinic.
Upon graduating Rutgers-Newark Law School Law, I initially practiced at a small boutique law firm in Newark, New Jersey but always maintained a desire to return to his home in the Lehigh Valley. I spent the last eighteen years working in civil litigation and personal injury law firms in the Lehigh Valley. For the last sixteen years, I has worked at an Allentown law firm, The Law of Business, P.C. f/k/a Douglas M. Marinos & Associates, P.C. focusing on business divorce, corporate law, creditor’s rights and general civil litigation.
I am a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey bars and admitted to practice in the United States District Court of Pennsylvania for the Eastern District and the United States District Court of New Jersey. I have litigated cases throughout the Courts of Common Pleas of Eastern Pennsylvania from Susquehanna County to Philadelphia County and represented both debtors and creditors in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern and Middle District of Pennsylvania. As counsel for Sovereign Bank, I wrote the appellate brief in the precedent setting decision in the matter of Sovereign Bank v. Schwab, 414 F.3d 450 (3rd Cir. 2005).
I am an avid cigar smoker and a founding member, board member and former officer of the Lehigh Valley Cigar Club, a non-profit social club with over 200 members dedicated to protecting and promoting the enjoyment of cigar smoking in the Lehigh Valley.I played Rugby for ten years on the men’s team of the Lehigh Valley Rugby Football Club, becoming a captain of the men’s team, and President of the club. I own a commercial building in the historical district of Main Street, Bethlehem where my business partner and I own a hair salon, Hair Studio Main.
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