HARRISBURG — A state lawmaker and advocates who fought to get medical marijuana legalized in Pennsylvania say a rejected applicant for a dispensary and grower licenses should drop its effort to get the state’s program halted.

In a lawsuit filed in Commonwealth Court, Keystone ReLeaf asked the court to halt the rollout of the medical marijuana program over concerns about the lack of transparency in how the permits were awarded.

State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery County, one of the two main sponsors of the medical marijuana legislation, said he understands that applicants who didn’t get permits may want to challenge the decision. The move to sue wasn’t particularly surprising either, he said.

“People put a lot of effort into applying,” he said. “We expected people to appeal.”

Seeking to stop the rollout of the whole medical marijuana program is over-the-top, Leach said. Delaying the rollout will hurt the very patients the program was created to help, he said.

On top of that, states where medical marijuana has been legalized have seen a 25 percent decrease in opioid deaths. In a state with 2,000 overdose deaths a year, that means 500 lives are literally at stake for every year the rollout is delayed, Leach said. [Read more at New Castle News]