Pennsylvania was the 24th state to pass legislation approving medical marijuana. Its medical sales of the drug should eclipse $980 million by 2020, nearly four times the medical sales forecast in New York for that year, according to Washington, D.C.-based New Frontier. As many as 5,000 marijuana-related jobs could crop up statewide over the next
Pennsylvania was the 24th state to pass legislation approving medical marijuana. Its medical sales of the drug should eclipse $980 million by 2020, nearly four times the medical sales forecast in New York for that year, according to Washington, D.C.-based New Frontier.
As many as 5,000 marijuana-related jobs could crop up statewide over the next five years, up to half of them in ancillary operations such as Thar Process and its suppliers, according to the nonprofit Pennsylvania Medical Cannabis Society in Harrisburg.
To explore the opportunities, the cannabis society is hosting professional events across the state, drawing 90 to 120 people a pop.
The state Department of Health will license as many as 25 grower-processor operations to start, according to the law known as Act 16. Applications for the businesses should be available by year’s end, state health secretary Karen Murphy has said.
Plants must be grown indoors, while product distribution will be limited to no more than 150 dispensary locations. Those dispensaries and grower-processers could fuel about 2,500 direct jobs over the next five years – at least half the overall job growth forecast from medical marijuana statewide, according to industry projections.
