Data as of 2026-03-01

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania legalized medical cannabis when Governor Wolf signed the Medical Marijuana Act (Act 16 of 2016) on April 17, 2016; the first medical sale followed 669 days later, on February 15, 2018. The state operates a medical-only program and has enacted no adult-use sales law: HB 1200, a state-store model, passed the Pennsylvania House 102-101 on May 7, 2025 — the first time either chamber passed adult-use — and was defeated 3-7 in the Senate Law and Justice Committee six days later. The program is mature and large. Program-to-date medical sales reached roughly $9.1 billion by March 1, 2026, with calendar-year 2024 sales reported at roughly $1.73 billion, a figure carried by trade outlets citing Department of Health aggregate data rather than a machine-readable primary table. As of March 1, 2026, the program counted 438,244 active patient certifications, 30 operational grower/processors, and 192 operational dispensary locations. Active patient certifications peaked at 446,480 in April 2025 and have edged down since. Wholesale and retail dry-leaf prices have declined: the regulator's published per-gram series shows wholesale dry leaf falling from $10.65 to $4.17 per gram between January 2021 and October 2023, a 60.8 percent decline. Patients may not grow at home, and food-based edibles remain prohibited for retail sale.

Market

Licensing & Market

Pennsylvania caps commercial permits by regulation: 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.23 sets a ceiling of 25 commercial grower/processor permits and 50 commercial dispensary permits for the initial issuance rounds, both of which are closed. Counting the 25 commercial grower/processor permits and roughly 9 vertically integrated clinical-registrant grower/processors, the state has awarded an estimated 34 grower/processor permits; 30 are operational, an activation rate of 88.2 percent. There are 2.3 operating grower/processors per million residents. The Department of Health reports operational dispensaries at the location level — 192 as of March 1, 2026, or 1.47 per 100,000 residents — but publishes no clean count of awarded dispensary locations, so a retail activation rate cannot be computed from public records. Permits are not transferable to any person or location, though change of control of ownership is permitted. Vertical integration is allowed with restrictions: clinical registrants were vertically integrated from program inception, and Act 63 of 2023, effective April 12, 2024, opened broader vertical integration to commercial operators. There is no residency requirement for owners or financial backers. Pennsylvania has no municipal opt-in or opt-out regime; under the Municipalities Planning Code, municipalities may regulate cannabis businesses through zoning but may not ban them outright, and no statewide registry of permitting municipalities exists. The grower/processor application and renewal fees are each $10,000, alongside a one-time $200,000 initial permit fee; the dispensary application and renewal fees are each $5,000, alongside a one-time $30,000 fee per authorized location. The state tracks product through Leaf Data Systems (MJ Freeway, now operating under the Alleaves brand).

Field Value Source
Cultivator licenses awarded 34 [8]
Cultivator licenses operational 30 [9]
Cultivator activation rate 88.2% [10]
Operating cultivators per million 2.3 [11]
Retail licenses awarded Not available in the public record —
Retail licenses operational 192 [12]
Retail activation rate Not available in the public record —
Dispensaries per 100k 1.47 [13]
Vertical integration allowed with restrictions [14]
License caps exist Yes [15]
Licenses transferable No [16]
Residency required No [17]
Residency duration (months) Not available in the public record —
Municipalities allowing Not available in the public record —
Municipalities total 2555 [18]
Municipal opt-in rate Not available in the public record —
Track-and-trace system Leaf Data Systems (MJ Freeway / Alleaves) [19]
Cultivator application fee $10,000 [20]
Cultivator annual fee $10,000 [21]
Retail application fee $5,000 [22]
Retail annual fee $5,000 [23]
Consumers

Consumer Rules

Pennsylvania is a medical-only state; participation requires patient certification. Patients may not cultivate at home. The state does not use an ounce-based possession limit: 28 Pa. Code § 1161a.24 authorizes patients to possess up to a 90-day supply, defined as 192 medical-marijuana units, where one unit equals 3.5 grams of dry leaf, 1 gram of concentrate, or 100 milligrams of THC in an infused product. Product forms are restricted. Approved forms are pills, capsules, oils, liquids, tinctures, topical creams and ointments, concentrates, troches, and dry leaf for vaporization; food-based edibles such as gummies, baked goods, and chocolates are prohibited for retail dispensary sale, and combustion of whole-plant flower is prohibited, with dry-leaf vaporization permitted since May 2018. Home delivery is prohibited by regulation — 28 Pa. Code § 1161a.27(e)(3) bars a dispensary from delivering to a patient or caregiver at home or any other location. There is no licensing framework for cannabis consumption lounges, and patients may not self-administer at dispensary facilities.

Field Value Source
Home grow allowed No [24]
Home grow plant limit Not available in the public record —
Possession limit (oz) Not available in the public record —
Delivery legal No [25]
Delivery operational No [26]
Consumption lounges legal No [27]
Consumption lounges count Not available in the public record —
Purchase limit, flower (oz) Not available in the public record —
Purchase limit, concentrate (g) Not available in the public record —
Purchase limit, edibles (mg) Not available in the public record —
All product forms legal No [28]
Restricted product forms Food-based edibles (gummies, baked goods, chocolates) prohibited for retail dispensary sale. Combustion/smoking of whole-plant flower prohibited; dry-leaf vaporization permitted since May 2018. Approved forms: pills, capsules, oils, liquids, tinctures, topical creams/ointments, concentrates, troches, and dry leaf for vaporization. [29]
Taxes

Taxation

Pennsylvania levies no retail excise tax on patient purchases and exempts medical cannabis from the state's 6 percent sales tax and from local sales taxes, so the patient-facing tax rate at point of sale is zero. The only cannabis-specific tax is a 5 percent gross-receipts tax under 35 P.S. § 10231.901, levied upstream on grower/processor sales to dispensaries and paid by the grower/processor rather than charged at retail. No local cannabis tax authority exists under the program. The 5 percent gross-receipts rate set by Act 16 of 2016 has not been amended since enactment. Annual collections of that tax are not available as a primary figure: the Department of Revenue does not publish annual gross-receipts cannabis collections in machine-readable form, and the only primary-adjacent annual figure on record is roughly $2 million in gross-receipts tax for program year one (2018-2019).

Field Value Source
Excise tax 0% [31]
Excise tax type none [30]
Sales tax 0% [32]
Wholesale tax 5% [33]
Potency tax exists No [34]
Potency tax, flower Not available in the public record —
Potency tax, concentrate Not available in the public record —
Potency tax, edibles Not available in the public record —
Local tax (max) 0% [35]
Local tax (typical) 0% [36]
Total effective rate 0% [37]
Medical tax exempt Yes [38]
Medical tax rate Not available in the public record —
Annual tax revenue Not available in the public record —
Tax revenue per capita Not available in the public record —
Tax changed since legalization No [39]
Tax direction unchanged [40]
Operators

Operator Data

Calendar-year 2024 medical sales were reported at roughly $1.73 billion, a figure carried by trade outlets citing Department of Health aggregate transaction data rather than a machine-readable primary table; on the 2025 population that works out to roughly $132.5 per resident. First-quarter 2026 retail sales were $453,302,829, up 6.0 percent from first-quarter 2025. The published per-gram price series shows decline at both wholesale and retail: wholesale dry leaf fell from $10.65 to $4.17 per gram between January 2021 and October 2023, a 60.8 percent decline, and retail dry leaf fell from $14.90 to $8.51 per gram over the same window. Operational grower/processors moved from a peak of 33 in January 2024 to 30 as of March 1, 2026; Pennsylvania publishes no surrender or revocation log explaining the change, so license attrition cannot be quantified. The state publishes no public wholesale-price-per-pound or retail-price-per-ounce series and no operator-margin figure; those exist only in proprietary datasets not used here. What the public record shows is a mature, high-revenue medical market with declining per-gram prices and a grower/processor base that has contracted slightly from its peak.

Field Value Source
Wholesale flower ($/lb) Not available in the public record —
Wholesale flower period Not available in the public record —
Wholesale trend declining [41]
Wholesale price compression 60.8% [42]
Retail flower ($/oz) Not available in the public record —
Operator margin Not available in the public record —
Total market sales $1,730,000,000 [43]
Adult-use sales Not available in the public record —
Per-capita sales $132.5 [44]
YoY sales growth 6% [45]
License attrition (count) Not available in the public record —
License attrition Not available in the public record —
Peak cultivation licenses 33 [46]
Current cultivation licenses 30 [9]
Outcomes

Consumer Data

Pennsylvania residents purchased roughly $132.5 of medical cannabis per resident in calendar-year 2024, served by 1.47 operating dispensary locations per 100,000 residents. The published per-gram price series shows retail dry leaf declining, from $14.90 per gram in January 2021 to $8.51 per gram in October 2023. The state publishes no estimate of legal-market capture — the share of total consumption met by the licensed medical channel versus the unregulated market — so the degree to which licensed supply has displaced the legacy market cannot be stated from public sources; Pennsylvania's large unregulated intoxicating-hemp and smoke-shop market further complicates any such estimate.

Field Value Source
Per-capita sales $132.5 [44]
Dispensaries per 100k 1.47 [13]
Legal market capture Not available in the public record —
Legal capture source Not available in the public record —
Retail price trend declining [47]
Equity

Equity Programs

Pennsylvania has no social-equity licensing tier. Act 16 of 2016 (35 P.S. § 10231.615) requires every permit applicant to submit a diversity plan promoting participation by diverse groups in ownership, management, employment, and contracting, and the Department of Health reports diversity metrics to the legislature annually; this is a reporting-and-goals mechanism, not a dedicated applicant category, preference, or set-aside. The state has no dedicated cannabis equity or community-reinvestment fund. The Department of Health's 2024 Diversity Report states that 31 percent of 1,052 principals and financial backers are diverse in at least one category, but it does not publish a clean licensee-ownership figure for minority-owned or women-owned share, so neither is stated here. Record-clearing operates through Clean Slate automatic sealing (Act 56 of 2018, expanded by Act 36 of 2023) and gubernatorial pardons, including the 2022 Marijuana Pardon Project continued under Governor Shapiro. Clean Slate has sealed more than 45 million cases, but the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts does not break sealings out by offense, and cannabis-specific pardons (roughly 231 to 232 advanced to public hearing in 2022) are distinct from records cleared, so no single cannabis-specific records-cleared figure is published.

Field Value Source
Equity program exists No [48]
Equity program type No social-equity licensing tier. Act 16 of 2016 (35 P.S. § 10231.615) requires every permit applicant (grower/processor, dispensary, clinical registrant) to submit a 'diversity plan' promoting participation by diverse groups in ownership, management, employment and contracting; the Department of Health reports diversity metrics to the legislature annually. This is a reporting-and-goals mechanism, not a dedicated social-equity applicant category, preference, or set-aside. [49]
Equity licenses awarded Not available in the public record —
Equity licenses operational Not available in the public record —
Equity activation rate Not available in the public record —
Equity fund exists No [50]
Equity fund size Not available in the public record —
Equity fund disbursed Not available in the public record —
Equity fund disbursement rate Not available in the public record —
Minority ownership Not available in the public record —
Women ownership Not available in the public record —
Community reinvestment Not available in the public record —
Expungement exists Yes [51]
Expungement automatic Yes [52]
Expungements processed Not available in the public record —
Income cap for equity Not available in the public record —
Enforcement

Enforcement

Pennsylvania tracks regulated product through Leaf Data Systems (MJ Freeway, now under the Alleaves brand). Regulation requires testing across eight categories — pesticides; solvents; water activity and moisture; THC and CBD concentration; microbiological contaminants; terpenes; heavy metals; and mycotoxins (28 Pa. Code § 1171a.29(d)). The civil penalty schedule runs to a maximum of $10,000 per violation plus $1,000 per day for continuing violations, with no statutory minimum and minor violations resolvable by written warning (§ 1141a.47). Beyond these, the operational metrics of enforcement are not available in the public record: inspection counts, enforcement actions against licensees, illicit-market enforcement actions, regulatory budget and staffing, per-batch testing cost, and product recalls are not published by the Department of Health in a form that can be sourced. This is not because enforcement does not occur, but because the regulator does not report these figures for a public reference.

Field Value Source
Track-and-trace system Leaf Data Systems (MJ Freeway / Alleaves) [19]
Inspections per year Not available in the public record —
Enforcement actions (licensees) Not available in the public record —
Unlicensed-market enforcement actions Not available in the public record —
Regulatory budget Not available in the public record —
Regulatory staff Not available in the public record —
Mandatory testing analytes 8 [53]
Testing cost per batch Not available in the public record —
Product recalls per year Not available in the public record —
Fine schedule (min) $0 [54]
Fine schedule (max) $10,000 [55]
Criminal Law

Penalties & Criminal Law

Pennsylvania's controlled-substance penalty tiers in 35 P.S. § 780-113 have been unchanged since the 1972 Controlled Substance Act; no cannabis penalty has been increased since medical legalization in 2016. Simple possession is always a misdemeanor regardless of weight: 30 grams or less carries up to 30 days and a $500 fine, and more than 30 grams carries up to one year and a $5,000 fine, with first offenses eligible for conditional release. Felonies attach to sale, delivery, manufacture, or cultivation rather than to a possession weight threshold. Unlicensed sale or cultivation under 1,000 pounds carries up to 5 years and a $15,000 fine; the top weight tier, over 1,000 pounds, carries up to 10 years and a $100,000 fine, with plant- and weight-based mandatory minimums applying. Pennsylvania sets no per se THC blood limit for impaired driving; 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(d)(1) makes it unlawful to drive with any amount of a Schedule I substance in the blood, a zero-tolerance standard with no medical-patient exception. The net direction is lighter in practice through local decriminalization (Philadelphia 2014, Pittsburgh 2015, roughly 19 municipalities total on NORML's tracker), Clean Slate automatic sealing, and mass cannabis pardons. Pennsylvania recorded 12,707 cannabis arrests in calendar-year 2024 (11,154 possession and 1,553 sale or manufacture), drawn from FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data that undercounts because not all agencies report. A racial-disparity ratio of roughly 3.0 to 1 — Black residents arrested for cannabis possession relative to white residents — comes from a 2020 ACLU national report using data through 2018; no post-2018 Pennsylvania-specific ratio was found, and an earlier 8.2-to-1 statewide figure was formally retracted by ACLU-Pennsylvania in 2017.

Field Value Source
Max penalty, unlicensed cultivation Felony. Marijuana cultivation/manufacture is charged as possession-with-intent/manufacture under 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(30). Standard tier § 780-113(f)(2): up to 5 years imprisonment and $15,000 fine; top weight tier § 780-113(f)(1.1) (over 1,000 lbs): up to 10 years and $100,000. Plant/weight mandatory minimums apply (e.g., 10-21 plants = 1 yr; 22-51 plants = 3 yr). [56]
Max penalty, unlicensed sale Felony. Over 1,000 lbs: up to 10 years imprisonment and $100,000 fine (35 P.S. § 780-113(f)(1.1)); standard sale/delivery (PWID) under 1,000 lbs: up to 5 years and $15,000 (§ 780-113(f)(2)). Weight-tier mandatory minimums apply. [57]
Felony threshold (grams) Not available in the public record —
Felony threshold type sale [58]
Penalty, possession over limit Possession of 30 g or less: misdemeanor, up to 30 days and $500 fine (35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(31)); more than 30 g: misdemeanor, up to 1 year and $5,000. First offense eligible for conditional release / probation without verdict. [59]
Penalty, public consumption No separate state penalty (treated as simple possession, misdemeanor). Local decriminalization in Philadelphia (2014), Pittsburgh (2015) and roughly 19 municipalities total (per NORML's tracker) imposes civil fines (typically ~$25 for possession, ~$100 for smoking in public); state criminal law is not preempted. [60]
DUI per se limit (ng) Not available in the public record —
DUI zero tolerance Yes [61]
Penalties increased post-legalization No [62]
Penalty direction mixed [63]
Penalty direction details State criminal penalty tiers in 35 P.S. § 780-113 are unchanged since the 1972 Controlled Substance Act. Direction is net lighter in practice: local decriminalization (Philadelphia 2014, Pittsburgh 2015, ~19 municipalities total); Clean Slate automatic sealing (Act 56 of 2018, expanded by Act 36 of 2023, which now reaches a single qualifying drug felony); and gubernatorial mass cannabis pardons (Wolf 2022 Marijuana Pardon Project, continued under Shapiro). [64]
Post-legalization arrests (annual) 12707 [65]
Racial disparity ratio 3 [66]
Expungement exists Yes [51]
Expungement automatic Yes [52]

Sources

  1. ↑ PA Medical Marijuana Act (Act 16 of 2016), 35 P.S. § 10231.101 et seq https://www.palegis.us/statutes/unconsolidated/law-information?sessYr=2016&sessInd=0&actNum=16
  2. ↑ USPS / U.S. Census standard abbreviation for Pennsylvania.
  3. ↑ Most recent primary data point = PA DOH Medical Marijuana Advisory Board 'Program Metrics as of 3/1/2026' (presented Mar 25 2026) https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/programs/medical-marijuana/Mar%2025_2026_MMAB%20Mtg.pdf
  4. ↑ PA Medical Marijuana Act (Act 16 of 2016) signed by Gov. Wolf April 17 2016 https://www.palegis.us/statutes/unconsolidated/law-information?sessYr=2016&sessInd=0&actNum=16
  5. ↑ [SECONDARY] Philadelphia Magazine, Feb 14 2018: first medical sale Feb 15 2018 (Cresco Yeltrah, Butler PA). PA DOH press release not retrievable; date corroborated across outlets https://www.phillymag.com/news/2018/02/14/medical-marijuana-dispensaries-pennsylvania/
  6. ↑ CALC: first medical sale (2018-02-15) minus medical legalization (2016-04-17) = 669 days.
  7. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Pennsylvania, Vintage 2025 estimate = 13,059,432. census.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch; figure read from QuickFacts snippet — recommend in-browser verification https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/PA/PST045224
  8. ↑ PA DOH Phase I (12) + Phase II (13) commercial grower/processor permits = 25 (statutory cap, 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.23) plus up to 9 clinical-registrant grower/processors = 34. Clinical-registrant count is as of March 2022 and is flagged for re-verification https://www.pa.gov/agencies/health/programs/medical-marijuana/phase-i.html
  9. ↑ PA DOH Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, Program Metrics as of 3/1/2026: 30 operational grower/processors https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/programs/medical-marijuana/Mar%2025_2026_MMAB%20Mtg.pdf
  10. ↑ CALC: 30 operational / 34 awarded grower/processor permits = 88.2%.
  11. ↑ CALC: 30 operational grower/processors / (13,059,432 / 1,000,000) = 2.3 per million.
  12. ↑ PA DOH Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, Program Metrics as of 3/1/2026: 192 operational dispensary locations https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/programs/medical-marijuana/Mar%2025_2026_MMAB%20Mtg.pdf
  13. ↑ CALC: 192 operational dispensary locations / (13,059,432 / 100,000) = 1.47 per 100K.
  14. ↑ Clinical registrants are vertically integrated from program inception (Act 43 of 2018); Act 63 of 2023 (effective Apr 12 2024) authorized broader vertical integration for commercial medical-marijuana organizations https://www.pa.gov/agencies/health/programs/medical-marijuana/announcements.html
  15. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.23: maximum 25 commercial grower/processor permits and 50 commercial dispensary permits; up to 10 clinical registrants https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1141a/chap1141atoc.html&d=
  16. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.26: 'A permit issued under this part is not transferable to any person or any location.' (Change-of-control of ownership is permitted via § 1141a.39.) https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1141a/chap1141atoc.html&d=
  17. ↑ No PA residency requirement for principals/owners/financial backers in Act 16 of 2016 or 28 Pa. Code Ch. 1141A (confirmed by absence of any residency provision in the chapter) https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1141a/chap1141atoc.html&d=
  18. ↑ [SECONDARY] Pennsylvania has 2,555 municipalities (cities, boroughs, townships, plus the town of Bloomsburg). PA DCED's Local Government page does not state a single headline total; the 2,555 count compiles DCED classifications (per Wikipedia 'List of municipalities in Pennsylvania') https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_Pennsylvania
  19. ↑ PA DOH selected MJ Freeway / Leaf Data Systems as the seed-to-sale tracking vendor (2017, $10.3M contract); MJ Freeway now operates under the Alleaves brand (2024 merger with BioTrack). A replacement-vendor RFI was issued Nov 2025; no new award confirmed https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pennsylvania-department-of-health-selects-vendor-for-medical-marijuana-seed-to-sale-tracking-system-300442709.html
  20. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.28(a)(1): $10,000 nonrefundable grower/processor application fee https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1141a/s1141a.28.html&d=reduce
  21. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.28(a)(3): $10,000 grower/processor renewal fee (a separate one-time $200,000 initial permit fee applies; see notes) https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1141a/s1141a.28.html&d=reduce
  22. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.28(b)(1): $5,000 nonrefundable dispensary application fee https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1141a/s1141a.28.html&d=reduce
  23. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.28(b)(3): $5,000 dispensary renewal fee per permit (a separate one-time $30,000 initial fee per authorized location applies; see notes) https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1141a/s1141a.28.html&d=reduce
  24. ↑ Act 16 of 2016 (35 P.S. § 10231.303) and 28 Pa. Code § 1191a.31 authorize patients to obtain medical marijuana only from a licensed dispensary; home cultivation is not authorized https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1191a/chap1191atoc.html&d=
  25. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1161a.27(e)(3): a dispensary may not deliver medical marijuana to a patient or caregiver at home or any other location https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=%2Fsecure%2Fpacode%2Fdata%2F028%2Fchapter1161a%2Fchap1161atoc.html
  26. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1161a.27(e)(3): home delivery to patients is prohibited (cannot be operational) https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=%2Fsecure%2Fpacode%2Fdata%2F028%2Fchapter1161a%2Fchap1161atoc.html
  27. ↑ No PA licensing framework for cannabis consumption lounges; 28 Pa. Code § 1161a.22(b)(3) prohibits patients from self-administering at dispensary facilities https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=%2Fsecure%2Fpacode%2Fdata%2F028%2Fchapter1161a%2Fchap1161atoc.html
  28. ↑ Act 16 of 2016 § 1501 restricts medical-marijuana product forms; food-based edibles are prohibited for retail dispensary sale https://www.palegis.us/statutes/unconsolidated/law-information?sessYr=2016&sessInd=0&actNum=16
  29. ↑ Act 16 of 2016 § 1501 and 28 Pa. Code Ch. 1151A (grower/processor product requirements) https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?d=&file=%2Fsecure%2Fpacode%2Fdata%2F028%2Fchapter1151a%2Fchap1151atoc.html
  30. ↑ PA imposes no retail excise on patient purchases; the only cannabis-specific tax is the 5% gross-receipts (wholesale) tax under 35 P.S. § 10231.901 https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/medical-marijuana-tax
  31. ↑ PA imposes no retail excise tax on medical-marijuana patient purchases (the 5% cannabis-specific tax is levied at wholesale; see wholesale_tax_pct) https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/medical-marijuana-tax
  32. ↑ Medical marijuana is exempt from PA's 6% state sales tax and local sales taxes; applied sales-tax rate to patients = 0% https://www.salestaxhandbook.com/pennsylvania/marijuana
  33. ↑ 35 P.S. § 10231.901: 5% gross-receipts tax on grower/processor sales to dispensaries (wholesale level) https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/medical-marijuana-tax
  34. ↑ Act 16 of 2016 and 28 Pa. Code contain no THC-content or potency-based tax tier https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/medical-marijuana-tax
  35. ↑ No local cannabis-tax authority exists under the PA medical-marijuana program; local cannabis tax = 0% https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/medical-marijuana-tax
  36. ↑ No local cannabis tax under the PA medical-marijuana program; typical local cannabis tax = 0% https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/medical-marijuana-tax
  37. ↑ Patient-facing tax at retail = 0% (medical exempt from sales tax; the 5% gross-receipts tax is levied upstream at wholesale and is not separately assessed at point of sale) https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/medical-marijuana-tax
  38. ↑ Medical marijuana products are exempt from PA's 6% state sales tax and local sales taxes https://www.salestaxhandbook.com/pennsylvania/marijuana
  39. ↑ The 5% gross-receipts tax rate set by Act 16 of 2016 (35 P.S. § 10231.901) has not been amended since enactment https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/medical-marijuana-tax
  40. ↑ The 5% gross-receipts tax rate is unchanged since 2016 https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/medical-marijuana-tax
  41. ↑ PA DOH Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, Jan 24 2024 presentation: wholesale dry-leaf price fell from $10.65/g (Jan 2021) to $4.17/g (Oct 2023); continued declining through 2025-2026 https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/programs/medical-marijuana/MMAB%20Presentation%20-%20January%2024%202024.pdf
  42. ↑ CALC from PA DOH MMAB Jan 24 2024 presentation: wholesale dry-leaf $10.65/g (Jan 2021) to $4.17/g (Oct 2023) = 60.8% decline. Compression has continued since (chart shows further decline) https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/programs/medical-marijuana/MMAB%20Presentation%20-%20January%2024%202024.pdf
  43. ↑ [SECONDARY] CY2024 PA medical-marijuana retail sales ~$1.73B, reported by multiple trade outlets citing PA DOH aggregate transaction data; not traced to a machine-readable primary DOH table (program-to-date cumulative ~$9.1B per PA DOH MMAB Mar 2026) https://themarijuanaherald.com/2026/05/pennsylvania-medical-marijuana-program-surpasses-9-1-billion-in-sales/
  44. ↑ [SECONDARY] CALC: CY2024 PA medical sales ~$1.73B / population 13,059,432 = ~$132.5 per capita. Sales figure is secondary (trade outlets citing PA DOH aggregate data).
  45. ↑ [SECONDARY] The Marijuana Herald, May 27 2026: Q1 2026 retail sales $453.3M, up 6.0% from Q1 2025 ($427.5M), citing PA DOH aggregate transaction data https://themarijuanaherald.com/2026/05/pennsylvania-medical-marijuana-sales-top-453-million-in-q1-up-6-from-2025/
  46. ↑ PA DOH Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, Jan 24 2024 presentation: 33 operational grower/processors (peak) https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/programs/medical-marijuana/MMAB%20Presentation%20-%20January%2024%202024.pdf
  47. ↑ PA DOH Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, Jan 24 2024 presentation: retail dry-leaf price fell from $14.90/g (Jan 2021) to $8.51/g (Oct 2023); continued declining through 2025-2026 https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/programs/medical-marijuana/MMAB%20Presentation%20-%20January%2024%202024.pdf
  48. ↑ PA has no social-equity licensing tier; Act 16 of 2016 (35 P.S. § 10231.615) establishes only a diversity-plan requirement https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/US/HTM/2016/0/0016..HTM
  49. ↑ 35 P.S. § 10231.615 (diversity-plan requirement) and 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.46; PA DOH Bureau of Medical Marijuana 2024 Diversity Report (Feb 2025) https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/health/documents/topics/documents/programs/medical-marijuana/DOH%20BMM%202024%20Diversity%20Report.pdf
  50. ↑ PA has no dedicated cannabis equity / community-reinvestment fund (PA is absent from MPP's community-reinvestment states list; Act 16 contains no equity-fund provision) https://www.mpp.org/issues/legalization/states-with-community-reinvestment/
  51. ↑ PA record-clearing operates via Clean Slate automatic sealing (Act 56 of 2018, expanded by Act 36 of 2023) and gubernatorial pardons (PA Marijuana Pardon Project) https://palegalaid.net/news/clean-slate-30-enacted-law-allows-sealing-some-felony-criminal-records
  52. ↑ Clean Slate (Act 56 of 2018) automates record sealing without a petition (PA State Police + AOPC identify and seal eligible records). Note: Clean Slate is automatic SEALING; full statutory expungement (18 Pa.C.S. § 9122) and pardons remain petition/executive processes https://palegalaid.net/news/clean-slate-30-enacted-law-allows-sealing-some-felony-criminal-records
  53. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1171a.29(d) enumerates 8 required test categories: pesticides; solvents; water activity & moisture; THC/CBD concentration; microbiological contaminants; terpenes; heavy metals; mycotoxins https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1171a/s1171a.29.html&d=reduce
  54. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.47: no statutory minimum penalty; minor violations may be resolved by written warning in lieu of a civil penalty (effective floor $0) https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1141a/s1141a.47.html&d=reduce
  55. ↑ 28 Pa. Code § 1141a.47 and Act 16 of 2016 § 1308 (35 P.S. § 10231.1308): up to $10,000 per violation (plus $1,000/day for continuing violations) https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/028/chapter1141a/s1141a.47.html&d=reduce
  56. ↑ [SECONDARY] 35 P.S. § 780-113(f) penalty tiers via NORML / PhillyNORML (primary statute text returned errors on direct fetch; figures concordant across sources) https://norml.org/laws/pennsylvania-penalties-2/
  57. ↑ [SECONDARY] 35 P.S. § 780-113(f)(1.1) and (f)(2) penalty tiers via NORML / PhillyNORML (primary statute text returned errors on direct fetch) https://norml.org/laws/pennsylvania-penalties-2/
  58. ↑ [SECONDARY] In PA, simple possession is always a misdemeanor regardless of weight; a felony attaches to sale/delivery (PWID), manufacture, or cultivation under 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(30) — i.e., offense-type-based, not weight-based https://norml.org/laws/pennsylvania-penalties-2/
  59. ↑ [SECONDARY] 35 P.S. § 780-113(a)(31) via NORML PA penalties (≤30 g = misdemeanor up to 30 days/$500; >30 g = misdemeanor up to 1 yr/$5,000) https://norml.org/laws/pennsylvania-penalties-2/
  60. ↑ [SECONDARY] NORML PA local decriminalization (Philadelphia 2014, Pittsburgh 2015, ~19 municipalities total on NORML's tracker; civil fines) + state simple-possession treatment https://norml.org/laws/local-decriminalization/pennsylvania-local-decriminalization/
  61. ↑ 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802(d)(1): unlawful to drive with 'any amount' of a Schedule I controlled substance (including marijuana) in blood; zero-tolerance, no per se numeric threshold and no medical-patient exception https://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/75/00.038.002.000..HTM
  62. ↑ [SECONDARY] No PA cannabis penalty has been increased since medical legalization (2016); trajectory is toward local decriminalization and Clean Slate sealing https://norml.org/laws/pennsylvania-penalties-2/
  63. ↑ [SECONDARY] State criminal tiers in 35 P.S. § 780-113 unchanged since 1972; net lighter via local decriminalization, Clean Slate (Act 56 of 2018 / Act 36 of 2023), and mass cannabis pardons https://norml.org/laws/local-decriminalization/pennsylvania-local-decriminalization/
  64. ↑ [SECONDARY] NORML PA local decriminalization + PA Legal Aid Network on Clean Slate (Act 56 of 2018; Act 36 of 2023) https://palegalaid.net/news/clean-slate-30-enacted-law-allows-sealing-some-felony-criminal-records
  65. ↑ [SECONDARY] CY2024 PA marijuana arrests = 12,707 (11,154 possession + 1,553 sales/mfg), FBI UCR/NIBRS via MPP press release (NIBRS undercount caveat) https://www.mpp.org/news/press/new-2024-data-reveals-pennsylvania-arrests-thousands-for-cannabis-offenses-while-neighboring-states-reap-benefits-of-legalization/
  66. ↑ [SECONDARY] ACLU 'A Tale of Two Countries' (2020, data through 2018): Black Pennsylvanians ~3x more likely than white to be arrested for marijuana possession. (An earlier ACLU-PA report's 8.2x statewide figure was formally RETRACTED in Nov 2017 and corrected to 3.6x statewide for 2016 — do not cite 8.2x.) No post-2018 PA-specific ratio found https://www.aclu.org/publications/tale-two-countries-racially-targeted-arrests-era-marijuana-reform
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