A medical marijuana dispensary is set to open in West Manchester Township this summer.
RISE York, at 4395 W. Market St., is one of several dispensaries opening in the region, according to reports from PennLive and The Sentinel.
According to reporting from The Sentinel, each dispensary’s license allows for up to three locations, and RISE has locations in Steelton and Carlisle that have already opened.
RISE was planning to open a third location in Chambersburg, but that location would have cost too much, said Jonathan Gusdorff, managing partner of KW Ventures, which is the investment group behind RISE.
Gusdorff said RISE had found a plot of land in Chambersburg that would have provided a great location to build a dispensary. But after reviewing the plan and what it would cost to build the dispensary there, it decided to look for another location and put its money “toward patient care,” Gusdorff said.
The West Manchester Township location, the building formerly occupied by Yorktown Pools and Spas, will need some renovations before it can open. Demolition will begin next week.
The dispensary is set to open sometime this summer, he said, possibly as early as August but maybe as late as late-September, Gusdorff said.
He said he is excited for the location to open because he knows there is a need for the dispensary in the area.
“In talking with the police department, they have shared with me the narcotics problem,” and how often emergency responders are administering naloxone, he said. “Our goal is to provide dignified access to medical marijuana to those in need (so) they’re not buying weed on the street corners to take their pain away.”
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.
Serious medical conditions under the act include, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, autism, cancer, Crohn’s disease, dyskinetic and spastic movement disorders, epilepsy, glaucoma, HIV and AIDS, Huntington’s disease, neurodegenerative diseases, some opioid use disorder, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other illnesses.
York County’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened recently in Penn Township.
Knox Medical, 648 Frederick St. in the township, received a state permit about a year ago and held a job fair in March. It opened its doors on June 5.
Another dispensary has been proposed for the former South York Diner location.
