What Every Lawyer Should Know About Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act

In April 2016, with the passage of Act 16: Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act, Pennsylvania began regulating medical marijuana.  Eager to ensure attorneys were properly educated on this matter, Lawline enlisted attorney William Roark, one of the first Pennsylvania attorneys to tackle the nuances of Pennsylvania’s new law, to discuss the law’s implementation. 

In the CLE course “Medical Marijuana in the Keystone State“, William explained describes a nuanced issue that affects any applicant in Pennsylvania interested in growing or processing medical marijuana:

Every applicant must provide a detailed plan for how they will grow and process the marijuana. The caveat? Nobody in Pennsylvania should know how to grow marijuana.

So ... what now? Watch the clip below or read on for a summary. 

In the clip, William says the answer is to “bring people that have an excuse for knowing how to legally grow marijuana.” There are a two ways a grower / processor can do so:

1. Hire a consultant. These consultants provide applicants with the know-how, intellectual property, and detail plan Pennsylvania applicants need to grow and process marijuana. Just be wary and do your due diligence – as with all business, there are great and not so great consultants out there.
2. Bring on someone already in the industry. If the applicant is lucky enough to know someone already in the industry, they can bring that individual on as part of their team – whether as a manager or part of an advisory board. That individual would then be able to competently and credibly explain how the applicant will grow and process marijuana.

To learn more about the Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act, check out William’s full CLE program here.