Spicer's speech helps medial marijuana, READ!
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer marijuana comments might actually help Pennsylvania's program
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer sent a shudder through the legalized marijuana world Thursday by signaling that the federal government would step up enforcement in states that have legalized cannabis for recreational use.
But he may have actually done Pennsylvania's effort a small favor by simultaneously voicing the administration's intention not to interfere with medical marijuana programs.
"There are two distinct issues here, medical marijuana and recreational marijuana," Spicer said. "Medical marijuana, I've said before, the president understands the pain and suffering many people go through who are facing especially terminal diseases and the comfort that some of these drugs, including medical marijuana can bring to them."
That could give investors in Pennsylvania's nascent medical marijuana industry additional confidence by clarifying the Trump administration's position, said Dan Clearfield, a Harrisburg-based attorney who specializes in medical marijuana law.
"Medical marijuana, because it doesn't appear to be the focus of anything the new administration wants to do, if people are considering where to put their investment in the marijuana business, that clearly has to be something they are incorporating into their thoughts," Clearfield said.
Some investors may shift their focus, at least temporarily, from states such as Massachusetts and Maine that recently legalized recreational marijuana to states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio that are rolling out medical programs, said Chris Walsh, editorial director of Marijuana Business Daily.
"You could see some people pivot, either entrepreneurs or investors that were looking at the recreational market, thinking medical might be the better place to go," Walsh said.
Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Delaware County, a legalization advocate, called the idea of a crackdown "moronic," impractical and bad for the health and safety of citizens in states with where marijuana is legal for recreational use, but he admitted Spicer's comments did seem to bode well for medical states such as Pennsylvania.
"Unless of course, he changes his mind tomorrow," said Leach, a vocal Trump critic.
Pennsylvania legalized marijuana for the treatment of 17 medical conditions in 2016 and began accepting applications for 27 dispensary and 12 grower/processor licenses distributed across six geographic regions of the state this week. The application period ends March 20.
Lehigh and Northampton counties are allocated one dispensary permit each. The permits allow up to three locations, but each must be in a different county. The northeast region of the state, which includes both counties, is allocated two grower-processor licenses, which allow one location each.
Permits are expected to be awarded this summer.
Bruce Nicholson, chief medical officer of TruVo Health Care, which expects to apply for a permit to grow and process medical marijuana in Lynn Township, said the company's plans remain on track.
"The comments made yesterday by Sean Spicer address the concerns of the recreational market," he said in a statement. "We believe that companies that are in compliance of state medical programs align with the current administration view on cannabis as medicine."
The legalized marijuana world has been trying to read the tea leaves on the Trump administration's stance toward cannabis since the election, pouring over past comments made by Trump and his choice for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, who is on the record as a legalization critic.
While marijuana remains illegal for any purpose on a federal level, the Obama Administration generally took a hands-off approach in states that legalized pot, preferring to focus instead on issues such as preventing marijuana from getting into the hands of minors.
Spicer said states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use likely will face increased enforcement, but left details to the Justice Department, which didn't elaborate. Marijuana advocates say they'll be watching closely.
The Trump administration will have to set priorities, said Stephen Wermiel, a constitutional law professor and interim director of the Program on Law and Government at American University Washington College of Law, because it won't have the manpower to arrest everyone using the drug.
"The fact the government says it has different views of this than the Obama administration is only the opening salvo," Wermiel said. "They have to figure out a whole scheme of when they can do this and where."
Nationally, eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational use, while 20, including Pennsylvania, have legalized medical marijuana.
Marijuana legalization enjoys broad public support. A Quinnipiac University poll published Thursday showed 59 percent support full legalization.
Legalization advocates aren't comforted by the potential upside for purely medical states such as Pennsylvania.
"Mr. Spicer said there is a difference between medical and recreational marijuana," said Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Mason Tvert. "But the benefits of and need for regulation apply equally to both."
Philadelphia-based marijuana legalization advocate Chris Goldstein said Pennsylvania's highly regulated model for dispensing medical marijuana, which has similarities with New Jersey and New York, seems to match pretty closely with the Trump administration's ideal for medical marijuana.
It may not be so ideal for patients, he said, who face barriers to access and high prices in all three states, problems that won't go away just because the Trump Administration doesn't seem to be interested in interfering.
"Sean Spicer's comments yesterday have no impact on Pennsylvania's law," Goldstein said. "They have supported medical marijuana and I don't see the Trump Administration going after the cartel states like New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. I think they like these plans."
Goldstein's greater concern is that Trump's more aggressive stand toward recreational use will lead to more marijuana possession arrests by local law enforcement.
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www.mcall.com/business/healthcare/mc-trump-pa-medical-marijuana-20170224-story.html
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