In preparation for the rollout of medical marijuana in 2018, the state of Pennsylvania has issued 27 licenses that allow canna-businesses to start up to three dispensaries each. In southwestern Pennsylvania, the state granted licenses to Keystone Relief Centers LLC, Maitri Medicinals LLC, The Healing Center LLC, Keystone Integrated Care LLC, and Cresco Yeltrah LLC. GTI Pennsylvania LLC and Dubois Wellness LLC both received licenses to operate in northwest Pennsylvania.

“This is a great day,” said Trent Hartley, founder of Cresco Yeltrah. “I was not expecting a dispensary license, but a vertical operation is something we’re now looking at with a great team — a fantastic team — of knowledgeable people.” Hartley learned of the healing properties of cannabis firsthand when he successfully treated his daughter's chronic bowel problems with a hemp-derived cannabinoid product.

“My daughter never has been back to the hospital nor taken a pill since,” Hartley said. “She was the in-house patient that really showed me what the plant could do.” Hartley's company is now producing their own cannabinoid product, Palmetto Harmony, and is planning on opening three dispensaries in southern Pennsylvania.

Keystone Relief also plans to open three dispensaries in the southern part of the state. The company's investment group includes physicians, pharmacists, researchers and former owners of personal care facilities. Keystone CEO Mary Del Brady described the group as “really committed to make certain this is done in the right way.”

Once these dispensaries open next year, they will be allowed to sell medical cannabis in pill, oil, and lotion forms, to anyone who has been certified by a doctor for one of 17 qualifying conditions. However, the state will not allow cannabis to be sold in plant or edible forms.