Eight Universities Approved as Certified Medical Marijuana Research Centers

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has approved eight universities as Certified Academic Clinical Research Centers in Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program, according to an announcement from Governor Tom Wolf on Tuesday.

The program allows each school to decide what aspect of marijuana it wishes to study in order to learn how effective the drug is for treating different medical conditions. Each school will be paired with a licensed marijuana grower and processor in order to conduct their research. The schools themselves could also become medical marijuana dispensaries in the future, according to WGAL News 8.

The eight Pennsylvania schools approved to participate in this program are:

• Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia
• Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia
• Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey
• Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia
• Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
• University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh
• Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM)
• Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia

The amount of previous research on medical marijuana has been limited in the U.S. because the federal government does not recognize it as medicine, but Wolf is optimistic that this program will provide patients with new treatments across the country.