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Pennsylvania is officially the 24th state in the country to legalize medical marijuana.

Gov. Tom Wolf signed the Medical Marijuana Act Sunday, and it will take effect in 30 days.

"Today is your day," Sen. Mike Folmer said to supporters before Wolf signed the bill.

Now that the act is law, what can you expect to see?

It could take months, possibly a year or more, before marijuana grown in Pennsylvania will be able to treat in-state residents. Growers and processors will have to go through rigorous steps of establishing a new business through the state. Additionally, doctors will have to get the education they need to recommend the drug.

When will distribution centers start popping up?

A legal medical marijuana program in the state would establish no more than 25 growers/processors and 50 dispensaries. Each dispensary can have up to three locations. That program could take several months before implementation, if not a year or more.

These businesses will be overseen by a 15-member Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, which will regulate the drug like the state's Liquor Control Board does with alcohol. The program will be overseen by the state's Department of Health, which would also launch a medical marijuana research program.

Who will be able to legally get medical marijuana? 

The act contains 17 conditions that medical marijuana could treat, ranging from chronic pain to epilepsy to cancer. See a full list of treatments below.

How long will it take for patients to get access to medical marijuana?

After medical marijuana legislation was approved in Maryland in 2013, patients south of the Mason-Dixon Line are still waiting and might not be able to buy the drug until 2017, according to a Washington Post article.

It took more than a year for dispensaries to open in New York following the Empire State's legalization of the drug in 2014, according to an article by The New York Times.

Will I be able to smoke it?

Even if you're a patient with an identification card, you can't smoke marijuana. And you can only put it into edible form if it is to help the patient ingest it.

Patients will also be able to take medical marijuana through tinctures, oils and other methods.

How will it be regulated?

Once the act is established, there will be a tax on medical marijuana as well as a system for regulating the price and distribution of it. A computerized registry that updates in real-time will contain intricate details of patients, caregivers, physicians and what types and amounts of medical marijuana could be issued. Patients will be issued identification cards from the health department, which will include them in the statewide registry.

The Pennsylvania State Police, physician general, chair of the state's Board of Pharmacy, political appointees and others will have a hand in regulating medical marijuana through the advisory board.

The state's medical marijuana program is estimated to create $10 million from application and registration fees, according to a fiscal note attached to the bill. The state's general fund will provide a projected $3 million loan to the program that will be repaid over 10 years.

Will my doctor be able to prescribe medical marijuana?

Doctors will not be able to prescribe marijuana, only recommend it.

Doctors will have to register with the health department before they can recommend medical marijuana as a form of treatment. Physicians who want to certify patients to receive cannabis for treatment will be required to successfully complete a course on the drug.

It's unclear when doctors can begin the registration process.

What conditions can I treat with medical marijuana?

Cancer, HIV/AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathies, Huntington's disease, Crohn's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, intractable seizures, glaucoma, sickle cell anemia, severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin or severe chronic or intractable pain in which conventional therapeutic intervention and opiate therapy is contraindicated or ineffective, autism.



Mother and medical marijuana advocate Angela Sharrer describes the rollercoaster of lobbying for a medical marijuana law in Pennsylvania that would help her daughter. Chris Dunn, York Daily Record

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