Medical marijuana dispensaries opened Saturday in Pennsylvania
DEVON, Pa. (WPVI) -- Starting Saturday, patients with one of 17 serious medical conditions are able to purchase medicinal marijuana in Chester and Bucks County.
Two new dispensaries opened their doors and Action News spoke to several patients.
Jeanne DaSilva, a medical marijuana patient said, "I have multiple sclerosis. Okay, I'm in chronic pain and I have glaucoma."
DaSilva has been waiting for this day for a long time.
Medical marijuana is now for sale in Pennsylvania.
DaSilva and many others will for the first time buy medical marijuana at the Keystone Shops in Devon.
She nearly cried when talking about her hopes for this.
"My neurologist said and I have neuropathy he thinks this will help me up to 50 percent so I'm almost in tears I can't wait to see what it does," DaSilva said.
Keystone Shops is one of the first six medical marijuana dispensaries to open in the state over the last two days.
The other in our area is called the Terra Vida Holistic Center is Sellersville.
When you walk into Keystone Shops, you won't see any dried marijuana leaves for sale.
That's not considered medicine in the state yet.
According to Keystone Shops Chief Medical Director Dr. Louis Van De Beek, they sell oils, topical creams and items than can be vaporized.
He only sees this as a positive.
"People you see out there are looking for relief from some very serious medical conditions. We know not every one of them are going to be helped by medical marijuana but we know that many of them will be," said Dr. Van De Beek.
He also hopes this can help curtail the opioid epidemic.
"It's our sincere hope that medical marijuana represents one solution to that horrible dilemma we face as a society," added Dr. Van De Beek.
According to the state, right now 17,000 patients have registered to participate, with nearly 4,000 patients approved by certified physicians.
The grand opening of the Key Stone Shops was so popular they expected a few hundred patients today.
So many people showed you can see they had to get the local police out here to help direct the traffic.
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