Pennsylvania's first medical marijuana dispensary will begin sales on Thursday and sales will begin at five other locations by the end of the week, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday.



The first medical marijuana dispensary to begin sales, on Thursday, is located in Butler County north of Pittsburgh.



In the Harrisburg region, Organic Remedies Dispensary in Hampden Township in Cumberland County will begin sales Friday, Wolf announced. Dispensaries in Bethlehem, Pa. and Pittsburgh are also set to open Friday.





Two more, located in Sellersville in Bucks County and Devon in Chester County, will open Saturday.



Wolf suggested patients contact dispensaries in advance to find out if they will need an appointment.



Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana in the spring of 2016 and has adhered to an ambitious plan to make it available to people who have a qualifying medical condition. The medical marijuana to go on sale this week has been grown and processed in Pennsylvania by state-regulated entities.



"Pennsylvanians have been waiting years for this moment," Wolf said. "Medical marijuana is legal, safe and now available to Pennsylvanians suffering from 17 serious medical conditions. In less than two years, we have developed a regulatory infrastructure, approved physicians as practitioners, certified patients to participate and launched a new industry to help thousands find relief from their debilitating symptoms."



So far, more than 17,000 patients have begun the process of being approved to purchase medical marijuana and nearly 4,000 have been certified by a doctor, Wolf said.



The state is working with additional dispensaries around the state to get them approved and ready to begin sales.