In December, Spotlight PA published an investigation revealing that a small group of doctors in Pennsylvania approve an outsize share of the state’s medical marijuana cards, raising concerns among health experts and lawmakers that doctors issuing several thousand cards each year may not be able to provide appropriate medical care to all of their patients.
Investigative reporter Ed Mahon’s latest piece is part of an ongoing investigative series exploring Pennsylvania’s relatively young medical marijuana program — and the third data-driven story based largely on records Spotlight PA obtained through successful litigation with free legal support from Paula Knudsen Burke, the Pennsylvania Local Legal Initiative attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
“The investigations that have resulted from the release of these records clearly illustrate why it is so important for journalists and news organizations to fight back when government agencies try to withhold information from the public,” Burke said. “Spotlight PA’s reporting on Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program is a huge public service, one that will help guide health officials and lawmakers as they assess the program and consider potential reforms.”
Burke represented Mahon and Spotlight PA in two separate public records lawsuits seeking data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
In the first case, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ordered the department to release data that shows how many patients are certified to receive medical marijuana as a treatment for anxiety, cancer, opioid addiction, and other qualifying conditions under the state’s medical marijuana program. Mahon later used more than one million records he obtained through the litigation to report that anxiety is by far the most common reason why patients in Pennsylvania are approved to receive medical marijuana certifications, despite conflicting evidence about whether cannabis is the best way to treat the condition.
“These certifications allow hundreds of thousands of patients to legally use cannabis in the state,” Mahon wrote in a behind-the-scenes look at his investigation. “Our analysis offers the first comprehensive look at how the decision to add anxiety disorders as a qualifying condition transformed Pennsylvania’s program, and, in the eyes of some, made it possible for basically anyone to get a medical marijuana card.”
Spotlight PA later made all of the data from its investigation available to the public.
In the second case, the Commonwealth Court ordered the Department of Health to make public data Mahon had requested concerning medical marijuana certifications issued by individual doctors. The decision came after the department and Spotlight PA participated in a court mediation program. Using the records the department ultimately turned over, Mahon reported that some of Pennsylvania’s top medical marijuana doctors have a history of misconduct. In response to Mahon’s investigation, two state lawmakers said they plan to propose legislation to strengthen the oversight process for doctors seeking authorization to issue medical marijuana cards.
Mahon’s most recent investigation is also based on records the Department of Health released following the Commonwealth Court’s order in the second lawsuit. In 2022, he reported, 17 doctors issued more than 132,000 Pennsylvania medical marijuana certifications combined, accounting for nearly one-third of the total number issued in the state that year. In the previous year, Mahon also reported, one doctor alone issued about 14,500 medical marijuana certifications, an average of about 40 per day.
“We couldn’t have done this story without records we obtained only after a legal fight,” Mahon wrote in a post on the social media platform Bluesky after the investigation was published in December. “Many thanks to attorney Paula Knudsen Burke of @reporterscommittee.bsky.social who represented [u]s at no cost in the case.”
Check out Spotlight PA’s “Cannabis Card Game” landing page to read all of the news outlet’s medical marijuana coverage.
The Reporters Committee regularly files friend-of-the-court briefs and its attorneys represent journalists and news organizations pro bono in court cases that involve First Amendment freedoms, the newsgathering rights of journalists and access to public information. Stay up-to-date on our work by signing up for our newsletters and following us on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and X.
