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HARRISBURG — Republican, conservative, Christian Sen. Mike Folmer is a prime sponsor of Senate Bill 1182, which would legalize medical cannabis in Pennsylvania.

“I have never felt more confident or right about any bill I have prime sponsored,” Folmer said.

Folmer says when he and others wrote Senate Bill 1182, they not only looked at the 20 other states where it is legal, but they also looked at Pennsylvania’s Liquor Control Board.

“We kind of used that as a model to make sure we were going to have these regulations, and these regulations have to be done because the FDA has marijuana or medical cannabis as a Schedule I drug, which is mind boggling to me to this day,” said Folmer.

Under the bill, a medical cannabis board would be formed to regulate medical cannabis. An advisory council would review all certifications and the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Control would handle enforcement.

The medicine would be grown at medical cannabis farms by a licensed grower. From there, the medicine would be transported in unmarked vehicles to either a manufacturer, which could put the medicine in different forms, or it could go to a compassionate care center, run by a registered nurse, where patients would pick up their medicine.