Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor has officially published the results of a comprehensive performance audit evaluating the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s administration of the state’s Medical Marijuana Program. The newly released report delivers a detailed assessment of how state health officials manage and monitor the regulated medical cannabis industry, highlighting key administrative areas where oversight requires reinforcement to safeguard patient welfare and maintain consistent operating standards.
The extensive performance audit specifically reviewed regulatory operations spanning a full one-year period, covering department activities from Jan. 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2024. This evaluation represents a significant historical benchmark for the commonwealth, serving as the very first formal audit of the program’s oversight and enforcement mechanisms since Pennsylvania originally established and implemented its medical marijuana regulatory structure in 2016.
Throughout the performance evaluation, state auditors focused their attention on three foundational components of the health department’s administrative responsibilities. Specifically, investigators assessed how regulatory personnel carried out routine inspections of licensed facilities, how effectively they managed and resolved complaints submitted regarding operations, and how consistently they executed formal enforcement actions against non-compliant entities across the state.
The regulatory scope of the evaluation encompassed oversight across both medical marijuana grower/processor facilities and retail dispensaries operating throughout the commonwealth. By examining records across these operational sectors, the audit aimed to determine whether state regulators possessed the necessary administrative systems and controls to supervise all stages of commercial medical cannabis handling.
Following their examination, auditors from the Auditor General’s office established two primary findings detailing operational vulnerabilities, accompanied by nine specific recommendations designed to guide structural and operational improvements. The findings identified notable gaps in internal management controls and formal administrative review channels within the Department of Health.
The first major finding in the report determined that the Department of Health lacked adequate internal controls necessary to ensure that mandatory procedures were executed in a uniform and reliable manner. Auditors discovered that without standardized control mechanisms, the department could not guarantee that on-site facility inspections, regulatory enforcement actions, and related monitoring duties were carried out consistently across all licensed operations.
In their second primary finding, state auditors determined that inadequate approval processes had weakened the health department's supervisory authority over the medical cannabis market. The report noted that state oversight was hindered specifically by deficiencies in the procedural workflows used to approve the conclusions of complaint investigations and to evaluate and authorize formal plans of correction submitted by regulated facilities.
Auditor General DeFoor addressed the critical findings of the report, noting that this evaluation was the first time any auditing body had examined how the Department of Health conducted inspections, responded to complaints, and enforced compliance for grower/processors and dispensaries since 2016. He cautioned that a lack of adequate internal controls and deficient approval processes directly threaten the overall effectiveness of state oversight.
DeFoor emphasized the tangible public health and safety risks associated with procedural gaps, explaining that inconsistent regulatory procedures could permit serious compliance issues to remain uncorrected over time. He warned that such regulatory failures have the potential to foster unsafe operating conditions within cannabis facilities or compromise the safety and reliability of medical marijuana products distributed to consumers.
The Auditor General further underlined the broad public importance of strong regulatory enforcement, reminding officials that hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians depend on the state's medical marijuana program to remain safe, secure, and trustworthy. Given the significant number of residents relying on these products, DeFoor stressed that the primary duty falls directly on state regulators to establish and maintain robust, dependable procedures.
To address the identified vulnerabilities, the audit report presented a series of targeted structural recommendations for the Department of Health. Chief among these directives is an instruction for the department to develop, implement, and consistently utilize a standardized inspection checklist during all facility reviews to ensure uniform evaluation criteria across the commonwealth.
In addition to standardizing inspections, the Auditor General recommended that health officials promptly finalize and formally approve official standard operating procedures. The report emphasized that these standard operating procedures must be formally instituted to govern both the execution of inspection checklists and the intake, tracking, and final resolution of program complaints.
The audit also recommended that the Department of Health institute formal documentation processes encompassing all monitoring activities under its purview. Auditors emphasized that rigorous record-keeping protocols are necessary to ensure that every inspection, complaint resolution, and corrective plan is properly tracked, verified, and preserved within the state's administrative records.
Following the publication of the findings, the Department of Health confirmed that it agreed with the audit’s conclusions and has already initiated efforts to implement corrective measures. DeFoor commended the department for its receptive attitude, publicly thanking health officials for their complete cooperation throughout the investigative audit process and acknowledging their initial steps toward compliance.
Concluding his remarks, DeFoor highlighted the collaborative outcome of the review as an example of government oversight functioning as intended. He stated that the primary objective of state performance audits is to evaluate operations so that audited agencies can adopt concrete recommendations, ultimately ensuring that the medical marijuana program continues to serve those in need and that Pennsylvania residents benefit from improved public administration.
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