Pennsylvania medical marijuana proposal sees new life in House

An employee at a medical marijuana dispensary in Portland, Oregon, displays different types of marijuana flowers June 26, 2015, that are sold at the shop in Portland. On July 1, recreational marijuana in Oregon is legal, but it's likely customers won't be able to buy the pot at medical dispensaries until Oct. 1. (AP photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Pennsylvania's proposed medical marijuana program is back on track for a vote in state House.

After passage in the state Senate, Senate Bill SB3 was referred in May to the House Health Committee, whose Republican chairman, state Rep. Matt Baker, said he had no plans to offer up the bill for a vote.

RELATED: Pennsylvania Senate's medical marijuana bill hits opposition

Things changed Friday, when the committee voted 25-0 to send the proposal to the House Rules Committee, whose chairman is House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana.

According to a report on pennlive.com, Reed expressed openness to legalizing medical marijuana, but he has said House members aren't entirely comfortable with the proposal as written. It legalizes the prescription of cannabis for relief from certain conditions, to be consumed through vaporization, oils, ointments, tinctures, liquids, gels, pills and similar substances -- as well as homemade edible products.

Reed spokesman Steve Miskin on Monday declined to discuss a timetable for dealing with the bill, and stressed that legislators are presently occupied by passing a budget, pennlive.com reports.

RELATED: Pennsylvania budget work continues; Wolf threatens veto

Among the Health Committee members voting to release the bill were Baker and members of the Lehigh Valley's delegation, Reps. Marcia Hahn, R-Northampton, and Michael Schlossberg, D-Lehigh.

Senate backers of the proposal say it has wide, bipartisan support, as well as the support of Gov. Tom Wolf.

The Senate also passed a medical marijuana proposal during the last two-year session, which ended with the close of 2014. It never came up for a vote in the House.

Including New Jersey, 23 states and the District of Columbia have some sort of medical marijuana program.

The New Jersey Department of Health announced Monday it issued a permit to a fifth dispensary to begin growing cannabis for the state's program. Compassionate Sciences Inc. is in Bellmawr Boro, Camden County.

New Jersey's medicinal marijuana program has three dispensaries operating: Greenleaf Compassion Center of Montclair, Compassionate Care Foundation of Egg Harbor and Garden State Dispensary of Woodbridge. A fourth center, Breakwater ATC in Cranbury, was granted a permit to grow in November, and the sixth allowed to operate under state law has yet to received its permit.