Despite some serious concerns caused by Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to abandon the Cole Memo guidelines for how the Department of Justice would treat state medical and recreational marijuana programs, the legal state programs are continuing to move forward. There is simple too much demand, interest, and money involved in the marijuana industry to put the genie back in the bottle.
Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program is set to begin in full this year. To date, the Pennsylvania Department of Health has approved 10 grower/processors to begin operations and three dispensaries. The demand and interest is evident and hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program. Given the substantial investment in the program, you would think it would be a high priority to notify and educate interested patients on how to participate in the program. However, Pennsylvania law prohibits growers/processors and dispensaries from advertising or promoting themselves.
Moreover, certified doctors are prohibited from advertising their services to write cannabis recommendations. As marijuana is still illegal under federal law, doctors cannot prescribe medical marijuana but may write recommendations under state law. There are over 14,000 patients who have registered but only 2,300 have been certified by doctors. Additionally, physicians continued to register to participate in the program with over 625 registered, of which 326 have been certified by the state.
Given the level of interest and investment, one would think it would be a priority to notify patients on how they can participate in the program, to identify doctors who can recommend medical marijuana and to list where it can legally be purchased. Certified doctors and dispensaries are listed on the Department of Health’s website but the Department of Health has no budget for advertising the program. The Pennsylvania Department of Health believes that all the information a patient will need is on the state’s website.
Dispensaries and doctors must get creative. Under the law, there is no prohibition against educating the public about the medical marijuana program. Dispensaries and doctors can post educational blogs, youtube videos, and/or devote sections of their websites to informing people of the program. Use social media to promote the program itself but do not advertise. So long as there is no direct advertisement or publication of their participation in the medical marijuana program, participants in the program should not run afoul of the law. Instead, they may direct any prospective patients to the Department of Health’s website where the certified doctors and approved dispensaries are legally listed. Certified doctors and approved dispensaries will have to thread the needle until the law changes.
Prince Law Offices Blog 