Chris Visco, the President and COO of TerraVida Holistic Center, said that the regional, women-owned chain of medical marijuana dispensaries has received all appropriate local and state permits to open a branch location at 249 Planebrook Road in Malvern.

According to Visco, the group plans to be open for business with product available by the end of February.

“TerraVida is honored to be located in East Whiteland Township and looks forward to serving Chester County patients,” Visco said.

TerraVida also plans to open dispensaries in Abington and Sellersville.

The Pennsylvania Legislature approved the use of medical marijuana with the passage of Act 16 of 2016, and the state’s Department of Health has been working to implement the program since.

Recently, the department provided permits to a limited number of dispensaries throughout the state for the sale of products to eligible patients with serious medical conditions. In addition to TerraVida, Chamounix Venture’s Keystone Dispensaries has received approval for a location on West Lancaster Avenue in Devon.

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In order to qualify for medical marijuana, a patient must complete the following four steps:

1. Register for the Medical Marijuana Program at medicalmarijuana.pa.gov
2. Obtain a physician’s certification that you suffer from one of the 17 approved serious medical conditions
3. Complete Registration by paying for a medical marijuana ID card
4. Visit a dispensary in Pennsylvania to obtain medical marijuana

Some of the approved serious medical conditions include cancer, PTSD, Parkinson’s Disease, and epilepsy.

Since the application period opened in November, more than 6,000 patients have registered to participate in the program, and 100 physicians have been approved statewide.

In Chester County, 11 physicians have been approved by the Department of Health. They are:

• Karen Banner, M.D. – Psychiatry
• Ira Cantor, M.D. – Integrative Medicine
• Daniel Csaszar, D.O. – Family Medicine
• Michael Fishman, M.D. – Intervention Pain Medicine
• Jeffrey Friedman, M.D. – Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Benjamin Jacobs, M.D. – Anesthesiology
• Joyce Liporace, M.D. – Neurology
• Henry Luu, D.O.
• Joseph Richards, D.O. –  Interventional Pain Management and Rehabilitation
• Daniel Rubino, M.D. – Pain Medicine
• Leonard Schuchman, D.O. – Family Medicine

The medical marijuana is not sold in leaf form. The products come in pills, tinctures, vape cartridges, topicals, and concentrates. Smokable materials will not be available for legal medical use anywhere in the state.

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