UPDATE:

Pennsylvania lawmakers late Tuesday finished amending a bill that would allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to state residents suffering from a broad range of medical conditions.



The state House was expected to hold a final vote on Wednesday. "I have no doubt it's going to pass," said state Rep. Mike Regan, R-York. Regan, a former federal marshal who became convinced medical marijuana can reduce the pain and suffering of many Pennsylvania residents, mingled with some of them late Tuesday.



"We are so excited -- this is our Super Bowl," said Diana Briggs, a Pittsburgh area woman seeking medical marijuana to treat a 15-year-old son disabled by frequent seizures that haven't been controlled with available medicine.





House members spent much of Tuesday afternoon voting down a long series of amendments, many of them introduced by opponents of medical marijuana. They also passed several amendments, including one that expands the list of approved medical conditions to include sickle cell disease, and others that ban elected officials from having a stake in medical marijuana businesses, and prevent medical marijuana dispensaries from operating near schools.



The fight against the many amendments, which supporters saw as detrimental, was led by state Rep. Ron Marsico, R-Dauphin. Marsico was the author of a sprawling amendment that passed overwhelmingly on Tuesday and which provides the main components of a medical marijuana program for Pennsylvania.

Medical marijuana could be used to treat more than a dozen conditions, including seizures, PTSD, chronic pain, HIV/AIDs, glaucoma, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, and some other neurological and gastrointestinal conditions.



Medical marijuana would be regulated by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, but a separate board within the department would devise regulations and be responsible for things such as adjusting the list of conditions that can be treated with medical marijuana, and adjusting consumption methods.



As it stands, medical marijuana could be dispensed in forms including pills, creams, oils, liquids and forms that can be vaporized, but smoking of medical marijuana isn't allowed.



The state would initially license up to 25 growers/processors and and 50 dispensaries, with each dispensary allowed to have up to three locations. Medical marijuana would be taxed five percent at the wholesale level, and there would be a program to make sure it's affordable for the poor.



Medical marijuana will have to grown within indoor, highly secure facilities. Patients, after a recommendation from their doctor, would need-state issued cards, as would their caregivers. Doctors and others in the prescribing and dispensing process will have to undergo training.



If a House gives final approval to the amended bill which began in the Senate, it will have to go back for another vote in the Senate, which approved the earlier version of the bill 40-7.



Medical marijuana supporters have been lobbying intensely for more than two years. They persisted through ten months of frustration after the Senate passed a bill but the House failed to act until late Monday. Optimism finally surged following Monday's 152-38 vote in favor of the Marsico amendment that some supporters said improved the Senate Bill, SB 3, which was authored by state Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon.



Gov. Tom Wolf has said he will sign a bill. On Tuesday afternoon he met with medical marijuana supporters in his office, telling him they have carried out a "historic" feat which shows the power of Democracy.



Others on Tuesday were calling the effort a historic example of how a strong grassroots effort and a worthy cause can cause Republicans and Democrats to put aside partisan differences.



"This is people power at its best. Look what Democracy can do when you believe," said state Rep. Ed Gainey, D-Allegheny.



It's expected to take 18 months to two years to get a medical marijuana program up and running. Pennsylvania would become one of about two dozen U.S. states and territories that allow medical marijuana.



Note: this post was revised to say that state Rep. Ed Gainey is a Democrat; an earlier version said he is a Republican.