Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program Expanded Significantly After Anxiety Was Added As A Qualifying Condition, Study Shows

Anxiety is now the number one health condition that Pennsylvania patients
use medical marijuana to treat, according to a new study.

Relying on data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, researchers
with Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pittsburgh assessed
trends in more than 1.7 million medical cannabis certifications from
November 2017 to December 2023.

Of that group, about 1.6 million registered patients were recommended
medical marijuana for anxiety disorders, the study, which was published in
the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found.

By contrast, 91,759 people received cannabis certifications for chronic
pain, 21,671 for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 28,991 for other
conditions.

“We found that adding anxiety disorders as a qualifying condition for
medical cannabis in Pennsylvania was associated with an overall increase in
certifications, with anxiety disorders rapidly becoming the most common
qualifying condition, comprising 60.26 percent of certifications since it
was added” in July 2019, the study authors wrote.

“Although certifications for chronic pain and PTSD still increased, the
percentage of total certifications using each of these qualifying
conditions decreased by roughly one third after anxiety was added,” they
said.

The study also speculated that the increased anxiety-related
recommendations could be linked to stress during the coronavirus pandemic.

“This study illustrates how adding anxiety as a qualifying condition
affects the overall count of cannabis certifications and alters the
distribution of qualifying conditions,” they wrote. “These results are
limited to Pennsylvania. We used Pennsylvania data for our analysis because
it is the only state, to date and to our knowledge, that has released
certification-level data on medical cannabis qualifying conditions.”

“Although Pennsylvania does have the second-largest medical cannabis
program in the United States, findings may not generalize to other states,”
the study concludes. “Furthermore, the data do not include patient
information, limiting analysis of recertifications and differences by
demographics.”

Coleman Drake, an associate professor at Pitt’s School of Public Health,
caveated in a statement that adding anxiety to the state’s medical cannabis
program “may inadvertently signal to patients that cannabis is effective
for treating it, despite the lack of evidence, which is concerning.”


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This comes in the background of Pennsylvania lawmakers continuing their
years-long debate over whether to legalize adult-use marijuana, as most of
its surroundings states have done.

Bipartisan Pennsylvania senators introduced a bill last week to create a
new regulatory body in the state that would begin overseeing medical
cannabis while preparing to eventually handle the adult-use market as well.

The 52-page legislation is being sponsored by Sen. Dan Laughlin (R), along
with 16 other members from both parties. While it wouldn’t legalize
adult-use cannabis as the lead sponsor has supported, it would establish a
regulatory infrastructure that could be used to oversee such a program.

Laughlin, who has sponsored legalization bills in the past, previewed the
new measure in May, writing that Pennsylvania should first take steps to make
sure the state is “ready to act when legalization becomes law” by
establishing a Cannabis Control Board (CCB) now.

Meanwhile, Sen. Shariff Street (D), one of the original cosponsors of the
new bill, said last month that he was working with bipartisan and bicameral
lawmakers to develop a passable marijuana legalization measure as the
legislature approached its budget deadline—telling supporters at the time
that “we’re getting close” and they shouldn’t “ease up” on the fight.

Street thanked his bipartisan colleagues in the House—including Reps. Emily
Kinkead (D), Abby Major (R) and Amen Brown (D), who have championed their
own legalization proposals—for working with the Senate “in a collaborative
way.”

Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R) recently said marijuana legalization
would not be included in the 2026 budget as lawmakers approached the
deadline he expected they would miss. But Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) is still
holding out hope that negotiators can “get it done.”

Whether Pennsylvania legislators will advance legalization this session
remains to be seen. But two Democratic lawmakers—Street and Rep. Rick
Krajewski (D)—recently said they’re aiming to reach a compromise and pass
reform legislation before the budget deadline.

Also, in May, Sen. Marty Flynn (D) announced his intent to file a new bill
to legalize marijuana in the state, calling on colleagues to join him on
the measure.

While the House legislation Krajewski sponsored alongside Rep. Dan Frankel
(D) was rejected in a Senate committee following its expedited passage
through the House along party lines, Street said he’s “cautiously
optimistic we’re going to be able to revive the bill and amend it and move
forward with a work product that allows us to get a bill on the governor’s
desk and realize revenue.”

Following the Senate committee vote, lawmakers from both chambers who
support legalization have been trading criticisms about each other’s roles
in the stalled push to end prohibition.

Krajewski, for example, recently wrote in a Marijuana Moment op-ed that Senate
Republicans who killed his House-passed cannabis legalization bill are
“stuck in their prohibitionist views of the past” and are “out of touch
with the will of our Commonwealth.”

Prior to that vote, Pennsylvania’s Republican attorney general said that
while he doesn’t currently support the House-passed marijuana legalization
bill, he’s open to changing his mind about the policy change after
continuing to review the details.

For what it’s worth, a recent poll found that Pennsylvania voters say they favor
a model where cannabis is sold by licensed private businesses, rather than
through a system of state-run stores.

The governor has repeatedly called for adult-use marijuana legalization.
However, he hasn’t endorsed the specific idea of having a state-controlled
model.

GOP lawmaker Major—who is sponsoring another forthcoming legalization bill that
envisions a traditional private sales model alongside Democrat Kinkead—said
during the House floor debate on HB 1200 that she stands opposed to the
competing bill, emphasizing that she disagrees with the state-run stores
proposal.

While Democrats control the House and governor’s office, they will still
need to reach a deal with the GOP-controlled Senate to effectuate change.
And in addition to the conflicting perspectives among pro-legalization
legislators, another potential barrier to reform is exactly that political
dynamic.

Regardless of which direction Pennsylvania lawmakers do—or don’t—go on
marijuana legalization this session, a survey released in April shows a
majority of adults in the state support the reform—and opposition to the
policy change has fallen by nearly 50 percent over the last decade.

Kinkead has made the case in another recent interview that legalizing
cannabis in Pennsylvania will help the state mitigate public health and
safety concerns associated with the illicit market, including the fact that
unregulated products can be laced with fentanyl.

The lawmaker previously introduced a separate bipartisan marijuana
legalization bill, alongside 15 other cosponsors, last September. It did
not advance, however.

Meanwhile, Laughlin recently called for the creation of a state “legacy”
fund, using tax revenue from adult-use marijuana sales and gaming to make
long-term investments in the Commonwealth’s economy.

The senator argued that, beyond using any resulting tax revenue to fund
day-to-day projects and public services, the state should earmark a portion
of those tax dollars for a fund to “provide a sustainable source of
prosperity that lasts for generations.”

Another GOP Pennsylvania senator, Sen. Gene Yaw (R), is backing the push to
legalize marijuana in the commonwealth, pointing out that, historically,
prohibition “has not turned out well,” noting the country’s experience with
alcohol criminalization.

Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) recently said that Democrats
are ready to pass a marijuana legalization bill this session, but that the
party “will need Republican support” to get the job done—adding that it
will be a “heavy lift.”

Polls have shown bipartisan support for legalization among voters, but the
reform has consistently stalled in the legislature, owing in large part to
GOP opposition. But not all Republican members are against the policy
change—and one recently said she felt her party should seize the
“opportunity to snatch” the issue from Democrats.

Separately in March, the Pennsylvania House approved a bill sponsored by
Frankel that’s meant to strengthen safety standards and oversight of the
state’s medical marijuana program as lawmakers work to advance adult-use
legalization.

While Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis program was enacted nearly a decade
ago, lawmakers say the measure, which now heads to the Senate, is necessary
to improve testing compliance, product audits and lab inspections, among
other aspects of the industry.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Democratic lawmakers recently introduced a bill
that would allow farmers and other small agriculture operators to sell
marijuana they cultivate to existing growers and and processors if the
state moves to legalize adult-use cannabis.

Separately, an independent Pennsylvania agency is projecting more tax
dollars to be generated from adult-use marijuana sales compared to what the
governor’s office has estimated, although it expects significantly less
overall revenue from cannabis legalization due to differing views on
licensing fees.

Pennsylvania officials have also launched a new survey that invites legal
marijuana businesses across the country to provide information about their
operations to help the state better understand the cannabis industry as
lawmakers consider enacting adult-use legalization this session.

Also, in a video interview released in March, the governor emphasized that the
state is “losing out” to others that have already enacted adult-use
legalization, while maintaining a policy that’s enriched the illicit market.

“I think it’s an issue of freedom and liberty. I mean, if folks want to
smoke, they should be able to do so in a safe and legal way,” he said. “We
should shut down the black market—and, by the way, every state around us is
doing it. Pennsylvanians are driving to those other states and paying taxes
in those other states.”

The state’s agriculture secretary separately told lawmakers that he’s fully
confident that his department is in a “really good” position to oversee an
adult-use marijuana program if lawmakers act.

Meanwhile, in February, top Pennsylvania police and health officials told
lawmakers they are prepared to implement marijuana legalization if the
legislature moves forward with the reform—and that they stand ready to work
together as the details of legislation to achieve it are crafted.

Amid the growing calls for marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania, a GOP
state senator said prohibition has been a “disaster,” and a regulated sales
model for cannabis—similar to how alcohol and tobacco are handled—could
serve as an effective alternative.

A Republican Pennsylvania senator also recently defended the push to
legalize and regulate marijuana, calling it “the most conservative stance”
on the issue.

The post Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program Expanded Significantly
After Anxiety Was Added As A Qualifying Condition, Study Shows appeared
first on Marijuana Moment.