Covid-19 has helped Pennsylvania quickly turn into one of the fastest cannabis markets this year. Amid the coronavirus, sales have been soaring in the state for the last six months.
The size of Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program has surged as a result of regulation changes and the anxiety-producing effects of COVID-19.
In February patient visits at cannabis dispensaries was at 70,000 a week and have hit 120,000 a week in August, representing a rise of over 70%.
Also since February, dispensaries have sold as much marijuana as they had during the previous two years combined, according to statistics released last week by the state Department of Health.
The state Office of Medical Marijuana has also reported that patients bought about $385 million in legal marijuana products from the state’s 89 cannabis dispensaries during the period. Until February, total retail sales since the inception of the highly regulated industry in 2018 had brought in about $400 million. There are at least 27 dispensaries now operating in the five-county region.
“The program is doing really well,” remarked Chris Woods, CEO of cannabis grower and processor Terrapin Care Station to the Inquirer. “It’s hard not to draw a correlation with COVID-19. In unsettled times, cannabis is a medicine that seems to help people cope with anxiety.”
“Pennsylvania really has become the model for what medical marijuana programs should do across the country,” said Woods. “Obviously, there have been a few problems. But the Department of Health and the governor have worked hand-in-hand to increase supply to patients, and increasing patient access has accelerated things.”
Roughly 230,000 Pennsylvanians now are registered and have been issued cards that allow them to buy marijuana products, according to the Department of Health.
