Medical marijuana rollout in Pennsylvania is a slow process

(Undated) — It’s been six months since Gov. Tom Wolf signed a law legalizing medical marijuana in Pennsylvania, and already some seriously ill children have access to the drug.

Qualifying adults won’t be able to get medical marijuana until the program is fully in place in early 2018.

The state Health Department will have to license growers, processors and dispensaries, and register physicians to prescribe the drug and issue patient identification cards.

By this fall it expects to publish temporary regulations for growers and processors, and by year’s end for dispensaries, physicians, patients, caregivers and laboratories.

The state has already approved more than 50 applications for caregivers to bring medical marijuana into the state for sick children.

Pennsylvania’s law allows for up to 25 marijuana growers and processors as well as up to 50 dispensaries that can have three locations each.