A Pennsylvania Department of Health–approved physician can certify your serious medical condition. Your Pennsylvania card is the legal way to buy — even with Ohio next door.
Pennsylvania's Medical Marijuana Program is run by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
Create your registry profile with a Pennsylvania driver's license or state ID.
An approved physician confirms your serious medical condition.
Pay the card fee within 60 days of certification. Your card is mailed.
Bring your card and a photo ID to any Pennsylvania dispensary.
New Castle sits minutes from the Ohio line, where adult-use cannabis is sold. Here's why that doesn't change the rules at home.
Ohio allows adult-use sales, but bringing cannabis bought in Ohio into Pennsylvania is illegal — and crossing state lines with it violates federal law.
Pennsylvania's protections apply to medical marijuana you buy from Pennsylvania dispensaries with your ID card.
Pennsylvania doesn't recognize other states' medical cards. Your Pennsylvania ID card is the way to buy legally here.
General information only, not legal advice.
Keep medical marijuana in the package it was dispensed in.
Carry your ID card whenever you have medical marijuana with you.
A medical card doesn't make impaired driving legal.
ID card fee, paid to the state each year
If enrolled in Medicaid, PACE/PACENET, CHIP, SNAP, or WIC
To pay after certification, or it expires
*Under specific criteria. Traumatic brain injury and Type II diabetes are approved for research purposes only. See the official list.
Just off I-376, with online ordering, in-store pickup, and pharmacist consultations for registered patients. Confirm hours before you go.
See all locations on the Department of Health dispensary list.
A rugged gorge on Slippery Rock Creek with an 1868 gristmill and covered bridge — a short drive from downtown.
“Friends kept telling me to just run over to Ohio. Getting my Pennsylvania card meant I could stop worrying about the drive home.”
— Tony M., New Castle“My MS symptoms qualified, and the physician explained everything clearly. RISE is right off 376.”
— Lisa G., NeshannockA Pennsylvania-licensed physician approved by the Department of Health to issue patient certifications.
Up to one year, as set by your physician. You'll renew each year.
On the Pennsylvania Department of Health's Medical Marijuana Program pages.
No. Bringing cannabis bought in Ohio into Pennsylvania is illegal, and crossing state lines with it violates federal law.
No. Pennsylvania doesn't recognize other states' medical cards. You'll need a Pennsylvania ID card.
No. As of 2026, Pennsylvania allows medical marijuana only.
$50 a year, or no cost if you're enrolled in Medicaid, PACE/PACENET, CHIP, SNAP, or WIC.
No. The physician's fee is separate from the state card fee.
A replacement costs $25 the first time and $50 after that.
New Castle, the seat of Lawrence County, sits where the Shenango River and Neshannock Creek meet. It's famous as the Fireworks Capital of America, home to renowned fireworks makers, and to historic Cascade Park. McConnells Mill State Park is just to the southeast, and Youngstown, Ohio, is about twenty minutes west. New Castle residents follow the same statewide rules as every patient in Pennsylvania's Medical Marijuana Program.
The program operates under the Medical Marijuana Act (Act 16 of 2016) and is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which approves physicians, issues ID cards, and licenses dispensaries.
Recreational marijuana remains illegal in Pennsylvania, and cannabis remains illegal under federal law. See the Department of Health for current rules.
Appointments with Department of Health–approved physicians.
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