A state medical marijuana advisory board voted Monday to recommend allowing dried leaf marijuana into the market.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine must decide whether to accept the recommendation for it to become statewide policy.

Levine chaired the advisory board meeting, which voted 11-0 in favor of allowing “dry leaf or plant form for administration by vaporization.” One board member abstained from the vote.

The board also recommended that people be allowed to use medical marijuana as a treatment for opioid addiction. Six members voted for that recommendation, while four members opposed it and two abstained.

The medical marijuana law does not require additional legislative action beyond Levine’s determination, state Health Department spokeswoman April Hutcheson said. Levine has up to a year to make a final decision on the board’s recommendations.

The medical marijuana board has bipartisan representation from the state House and Senate.

Statewide, medical marijuana is legal in pills, oils, tinctures, concentrates for vaping or ointments.

Diana Briggs of Washington Township in Westmoreland County is a medical marijuana caregiver for her 17-year-old son, Ryan, who suffers from epilepsy. She said she dried leaf form is cheaper than other products available at dispensaries. [Read more @ Triblive.com]