Verify · Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania medical marijuana rules: what to know and how to check
Pennsylvania allows medical marijuana only. To buy it, you need to live in Pennsylvania, have a qualifying serious medical condition, get a certification from a registered practitioner and have an active state ID card. You can buy only at a dispensary with a Department of Health permit, in the store or from your car on its site. Check the store on the state’s list before you buy.
Checked against the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) and Pennsylvania law on . Next review: .
CHSA does not test, certify or endorse products or retailers.
Official source
Pennsylvania’s cannabis regulator: Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Medical Marijuana (DOH)
- Check a business license Official list of licensed medical cannabis sellers
- See official recalls No public recall list found
- File a complaint Report an unlicensed business or a problem
- Regulator website Laws, rules and news
These links go to the regulator’s own website. CHSA does not copy or host license records, so you always see the official, current version.
What’s different in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania allows medical marijuana only. There is no legal adult-use (recreational) market. In May 2025 the state House passed an adult-use bill, but it did not get out of a Senate committee.
To buy, you must live in Pennsylvania, have one of the state's qualifying serious medical conditions, get a certification from a practitioner registered with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and have an active medical marijuana ID card. The card costs $50 a year. It is free if you are in Medicaid, PACE or PACENET, CHIP, SNAP or WIC.
Only dispensaries with a Department permit may sell medical marijuana. You must show your ID card in person, inside the store or from your car on the dispensary's site. Dispensaries may not deliver to your home.
The law lists the forms you can buy: pills, oils, topicals, tinctures, liquids and forms for vaporizing, including dry leaf. Smoking medical marijuana is against the law. Stores do not sell edibles, but a patient or caregiver may mix medical marijuana into food to make it easier to take.
Hemp products are different. They fall under the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's hemp program, and the state has no permit or license for stores that sell hemp products.
Pennsylvania medical marijuana rules at a glance
These are the main state rules for medical marijuana. Pennsylvania has no adult-use market. Numbers in brackets link to the law.
| Topic | The rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum age | Medical use only, with a practitioner's certification and an ID card. Patients must live in Pennsylvania. There is no minimum age for patients, but a patient under 18 must have a caregiver (a parent, legal guardian or someone they designate). Caregivers must be 21 or older unless the Department allows otherwise. | Source [1] Medical Marijuana Act §§ 103 ("patient"), 506, 507(a) |
| How much you can have | A patient may get up to a 90-day supply from a dispensary, and no more than the practitioner's certification allows. Keep unused medical marijuana in its original package, and carry your ID card whenever you have medical marijuana. | Source [1] Medical Marijuana Act §§ 303(b)(6)-(7), 405; 28 Pa. Code § 1161a.24 |
| Growing at home | Not allowed. State law makes it unlawful to grow medical marijuana without a grower/processor permit from the Department of Health. | Source [1] Medical Marijuana Act § 304(b)(3) |
| Delivery | Not allowed. Dispensaries may not deliver, or have someone else deliver, to a home or any other place. You must show your ID card in person, inside the store or from a vehicle on the dispensary's site. | Source [2] 28 Pa. Code §§ 1161a.23(a), 1161a.26(a), 1161a.27(e)(3) |
| Required lab tests | Only labs authorized by the Department may test. Samples are tested for pesticides, solvents, water activity and moisture, THC and CBD levels, microbes, terpenes, heavy metals and mycotoxins (toxins made by mold). A court has paused the part of the rule that says when samples are tested and requires a second lab to test each finished batch; the case is still going on. | Source [3] 28 Pa. Code §§ 1171a.22, 1171a.29(c)-(d); court stay noted on the DOH program page |
| Labels | Labels must show the grower/processor's name, address and permit number, the form and amount, the number of doses, THC, CBD and other cannabinoid and terpene percentages, a use-by date, the packaging date, a lot number, storage instructions, the dispensary's name and address, and warnings: medical use only, may impair driving, keep away from children, keep it in the original container, and unauthorized use is a crime. | Source [2] 28 Pa. Code § 1161a.28(c); § 1151a.34(d) |
| Packaging | Packages must be child-resistant, tamper-proof or tamper-evident, resealable and opaque (dry leaf can be in a see-through package). They must list all ingredients and warn about known allergens. Labels may not look like food or drink brands or use cartoons, colors or images that could appeal to children. | Source [4] 28 Pa. Code § 1151a.34(b), (e) |
| Edible THC limits | Edibles are not sold. State law makes it unlawful to make medical marijuana into an edible, except that a patient or caregiver may mix it into food to help the patient take it. | Source [1] Medical Marijuana Act § 304(b)(2), (c) |
| Poison control | Pittsburgh Poison Center and the Poison Control Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: 1-800-222-1222 . Free, confidential, 24/7. Call 911 if someone has trouble breathing or won’t wake up. | www.upmc.com |
Pennsylvania recalls
We did not find a standing public recall list on the Department of Health’s website. State rules let the Department order a mandatory recall when a product poses a risk to public health, and dispensaries must stop selling a recalled product right away. 4 In 2022 the Department recalled some vape products with added ingredients the FDA had not allowed for inhalation. CHSA does not monitor Pennsylvania recalls yet. If you think a product made you sick, call Poison Help, then tell the Department.
How Pennsylvania compares
Compare Pennsylvania with the other states CHSA covers.
Sources
- Medical Marijuana Act, Act of April 17, 2016, P.L. 84, No. 16 (as amended)
- 28 Pa. Code Chapter 1161a (Dispensaries)
- 28 Pa. Code Chapter 1171a (Laboratories)
- 28 Pa. Code Chapter 1151a (Growers/Processors)
- Medical Marijuana (Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program)
- Medical Marijuana Patients: Patients and Caregivers
- Renew My Registration
- Dispensaries (Medical Marijuana Program)
- Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Pennsylvania with Product
- Bureau of Medical Marijuana Complaint Form (03/2024)
- Laboratories (Medical Marijuana Program)
- Medical Marijuana Program Announcements
- Email to medical marijuana patients and caregivers, February 4, 2022 (vape product recall)
- House Bill 1200 of 2025 (adult-use cannabis): bill status and history
- Hemp Program FAQs
- Public Law 119-37, Division B, § 781 (amends 7 U.S.C. 1639o, the hemp definition)
- Pittsburgh Poison Center
- Poison Control Center
CHSA does not test, certify or endorse products or retailers.