State officials on Tuesday announced a list of approved medical marijuana grower/processor facilities throughout Pennsylvania, and McKean County did not make the cut.
The closet grower/processor will be Cresco Yeltrah in Brookville, Jefferson County, which is among 12 permits issued across the state.
“With today’s announcement, we remain on track to fulfill the Wolf Administration’s commitment to deliver medical marijuana to patients in 2018,” said John Collins, director of the state Office of Medical Marijuana. “The applications from the entities receiving permits were objectively reviewed by an evaluation team made up of members from across commonwealth agencies. Any letters of recommendation or support for an applicant were not considered during the evaluation.”
At least two locations to grow medical marijuana were being eyed in McKean County.
One of them included 20,000-square-feet of space in the Bradford Regional Airport’s multi-tenant center in Lafayette Township; the company behind those plans was PA Partners Inc.
The other location was the industrial complex in Lafferty Hollow off of North Kendall Avenue. The name of that applicant was not immediately available.
State officials say that the approved applicants will have six months to become operational before they can begin growing medical marijuana.
“The next step for the permit holders will be to ramp up their operations so they can prepare to grow medical marijuana,” Collins said. “Our teams will perform a series of site inspections before the locations can be certified as operational. Once that happens, the permittees will be able to begin growing and processing medical marijuana.”
In Brookville, the 46,000-plus square feet Cresco Yeltrah facility will produce pharmaceutical-grade oral sprays, sublingual and digestible tablets, transdermal patches and other forms of cannabis oil.
“We are thrilled to be selected as a provider in this program and look forward to providing medical relief to patients across Pennsylvania,” said Charlie Bachtell, Cresco Yeltrah’s co-founder. “We plan to be the state leader in this industry by manufacturing the highest quality product, providing caring service to the patients and giving back to our home community.”
CY received the second highest score out of more than other 175 applicants.
“It is our intention to set the bar on corporate citizenship by focusing on philanthropy, education and product development and research,” said local business owner and Cresco Yeltrah co-founder Trent Hartley.
Gov. Tom Wolf signed the Medical Marijuana Program into law April 17, 2016, which will offer medical marijuana to patients who are residents of Pennsylvania and under a physician’s care for the treatment of a serious medical condition. The initiative is expected to be fully implemented next year.
What’s more, the program is expected to create local processing and dispensing jobs.
“Today’s announcement of grower permits is a major step forward in developing Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana program, which has received overwhelming support,” state Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati said. “I am pleased that we are moving ahead quickly in making medical marijuana available to those in need, in a safe and legal way.”
Medical marijuana has been proven to provide assistance for many suffering children and adults, Scarnati said.
“We are now one step closer to allowing Pennsylvania patients to have access to this natural plant that could greatly improve their quality of life,” he said.
All told, the Office of Medical Marijuana received 457 total applications, 177 for growers/processors and 280 for dispensaries. Dispensary permits are expected to be announced later this month.
