How to check a Pennsylvania medical marijuana dispensary

1. Make sure your ID card is active

You need a medical marijuana ID card to buy medical marijuana. To get one, register online, get a certification from a practitioner registered with the Department, and pay for the card.¹ A certification lasts up to one year.¹ Carry your card whenever you have medical marijuana.⁷

The card fee is $50, paid once every 12 months. It is free if you are in Medicaid, PACE or PACENET, CHIP, SNAP or WIC.¹² The Department emails you 60 days before your certification and card expire.²

For help, call the program’s helpline at 888-733-5595 , 7 AM to 9 PM Eastern time, every day except state holidays.³

2. Check the dispensary on the state’s list

The Department of Health posts a list of medical marijuana dispensaries. It shows each store’s name, street address, city, ZIP code, phone number and website, and the date it opened.⁴ The list does not show permit numbers.

1. Open the Department of Health’s dispensary list (a PDF).
2. Find the store by its name, then by its city.
3. Check that the street address matches the store you are at. A dispensary permit can cover up to three locations, so one brand may have several stores.⁵
4. If the store isn’t on the list, don’t buy there. The list is dated, so a store that just opened may not be on it yet. Call the helpline to ask.

3. What to expect at a dispensary

• They check your card. You show it in person, inside or from your car on the dispensary’s site. Staff check it in the state’s tracking system.⁶
• A medical professional is there to help. A physician or pharmacist must be available, in person or by video or phone, to talk with you about the form and dose. Other locations under the same permit may use a physician assistant or nurse practitioner instead.⁶⁷
• You get a receipt with the store’s name and address and the form and amount you bought, unless you say no.⁶
• A sealed, labeled package and a safety insert. The label must have the grower/processor’s name and permit number, the THC and CBD percentages, a use-by date and a lot number.⁶

Warning signs

• Anyone offering to deliver medical marijuana to your home. Pennsylvania dispensaries may not deliver.⁶
• Anyone selling medical marijuana to people without a card. Dispensaries may sell only to patients and caregivers with a valid ID card.⁷
• Medical marijuana sold for smoking, or as edibles. State law makes smoking medical marijuana and making it into edibles unlawful.⁷
• An open or unlabeled package. Dispensaries must hand you a sealed and labeled package.⁶

If something doesn’t look right

You can report a problem with a dispensary to the Department of Health’s Bureau of Medical Marijuana. Fill out its complaint form and email it to RA-DHMMCOMPLAINTS@pa.gov. The form asks for your name, email, phone and address. Complaints are confidential, but the Bureau says it may not act on anonymous or incomplete ones.¹⁰

Bureau of Medical Marijuana complaint form (PDF) · How to report a problem