A medical marijuana dispensary will be opening in West Manchester Township in early October.

More than a dozen people attended a community education event Thursday night at the municipal building to learn more about it.

Dr. Jonathan Gusdorff, director of medical education for Green Thumb Industries Pennsylvania, spoke about how medicinal marijuana can help patients with serious medical conditions. It will come in different forms, such as pills, tinctures, oils, dry leaf and topical treatments.

RISE York will be hosting an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 2 at its new dispensary at 4395 W. Market St. A ribbon cutting is set for 11 a.m.

The first day of business will be Oct. 5, Gusdorff said.

In the township's eyes, the medical marijuana dispensaries are not any different than a drug store, such as CVS, township manager Kelly Kelch said.

How medical marijuana can help

A couple of patients shared their success stories.

Elmer Zink of Marietta said he suffers from chronic degenerative disc disease, and he had been taking opiates to deal with the pain. He started getting medical marijuana from the RISE dispensary in Steelton, and now he doesn't need the pain medicine.

His anxiety medicine dropped to the minimum dose, too.

His wife, Cindy, said he changed almost overnight.

"He's not suffering all day long in pain, and he's not so high strung ..." she said.

Zink explained how he worked with the staff at the RISE dispensary to determine which form and strain of cannabis might work for him. It's all trial and error, he said.

More:Medical marijuana dispensary planned in West Manchester Township

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According to the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program website, under the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act, patients who are state residents, and/or their caregivers, who have a serious medical condition as certified by a physician can get medical marijuana at dispensaries with a permit.

York County's first medical marijuana dispensary opened earlier this year in Penn Township.

Medical conditions that qualify

Patients diagnosed with these medical conditions can be approved to have access to medical marijuana: