Everyone knows medical marijuana is now available in Pennsylvania. The Medical Marijuana Act (MMA) is found at 35 P.S. Section 10231.101. Medical marijuana, however, presents significant legal risks to Pennsylvania’s licensed professionals (lawyers, nurses, doctors and all other licensees) and multifaceted challenges for the 26 licensing boards and Supreme Court that supervise them.

The MMA’s public safety catch-all provisions will be fertile ground for disciplinary action. For the licensed professional (lawyers too), a positive THC blood/urine test will incubate legal entanglements. Disciplinary actions will flower from licensed professionals claiming medical conditions or disabilities that require a medical marijuana card. Physician practitioners performing improper MMA patient certifications allowing illegal marijuana consumption will spawn criminal and civil license prosecutions. This article will shed light on these negative consequences of medical marijuana for the licensed professional.