Pennsylvania officials on Thursday outlined the process that medical schools can use to apply for state permission to conduct medical marijuana research.



Pennsylvania is the first among the states that have legalized medical marijuana to make medical marijuana research part of the law. Historically, marijuana has not been well-studied in the United States, due to its federal status as a Schedule 1 drug with no medical benefit.



Now, Pennsylvania is about to begin accepting applications from medical schools that want to conduct such research. At least one, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medince, has said it does. The state will allow up to eight medical schools, which are each associated with a hospital and typically have a strong focus on research, to conduct research on medical marijuana.



Technically, the Schedule 1 status outlaws most medical marijuana research as well as medical marijuana itself, including in the 29 states which have legalized it. But with public support for medical marijuana soaring among Americans, officials have chosen not to enforce the ban as it pertains to medical marijuana.



In approving medical marijuana in 2016, assorted Pennsylvania leaders promised the state would become a national leader in medical marijuana research.



Each Pennsylvania medical school doing the research will work in tandem with a separate entity that will grow the marijuana for study use and dispense it to patients in the study. Those entities also require state approval, with the state soon beginning that application and approval process.



Also on Thursday, the state laid out the timeline for phase two of its medical marijuana program, which involves approving 13 more growers/processors and 23 more dispensaries. It will begin accepting applications next month with deadlines in May.





As for growers-processors, it's expected to take about nine months to a year from the time applications are submitted until the time the growers/processors are supplying medical marijuana.



Once the 13 growers/processors are approved, the state will have 25 -- the number called for in the 2016 law that legalized it.



Pennsylvania's first medical dispensaries opened in mid-February, with 13 now approved to sell to patients, but only nine actually doing so. So far, the dispensaries have faced an unsteady supply of medical marijuana from the growers/processors, with only two having shipped product as of Thursday.



Asked about the supply, John Collins, the director of the state office of medical marijuana, didn't provide an update on the production status of each of the 12-approved growers/processors. Rather, he said it generally takes about 16 weeks from the time a grower/processor is cleared to being growing until it begins harvesting marijuana. The harvested marijuana is then processed into the various liquids, oils, lotions and other medical marijuana products allowed in Pennsylvania, with some products taking lonter than others



The 12 growers/processors were cleared to begin growing last fall. Once they have raised a crop to the point of harvest, they typically harvest once a month, Collins said.



Medical marijuana can be used in Pennsylvania to treat a list of 17 medical conditions.



The law doesn't allow medical marijuana in dry leaf form. However, several committees on a state advisory panel recently recommended allowing it in dry leaf or flower form. Medical marijuana in that form could be inhaled as a vapor or consumed orally. It couldn't be smoked, as Pennsylvania law doesn't permit smoking of medical marijuana. The panel on April 9 will vote on whether to recommend to the state secretary of health to approve the dry leaf and flower forms.





As of Thursday, about 25,000 Pennsylvanians have began the process of obtained the state-issued care needed to buy medical marijuana, about 9,000 have received the needed certification from a doctor, about 7,000 have obtained a medical card, and about 6,700 have purchased medical marijuana.



Also, 866 doctors have applied to become eligible to recommend medical marijuana to patients, and 473 are approved.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that dry leaf and flower forms of medical marijuana could be smoked in Pennsylvania. Also, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, not the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, has expressed interest in conducting research.