HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania health regulators failed to consistently document inspections or pursue deficiencies at medical marijuana facilities, with state auditors finding that 24 of 26 required deficiency notices in a sample were either late or never issued, according to a performance audit released Wednesday by Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor.
The audit examined the Department of Health’s oversight of marijuana growers, processors and dispensaries during 2024, with updates through Aug. 19, 2026. It identified two findings and made nine recommendations aimed at strengthening inspections, enforcement and complaint handling.
The review was the first performance audit of those oversight functions since Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Program was established under a 2016 law, according to the Auditor General’s office.
Auditors examined inspections involving nine of 34 grower/processors and 30 of 182 dispensaries operating during the audit period. Because the locations were selected using auditors’ professional judgment rather than statistical sampling, the findings cannot be projected across all facilities in the program.
Still, the testing identified substantial weaknesses in the Department of Health’s Bureau of Medical Marijuana, which is responsible for facility inspections, complaints and enforcement.
Of 103 inspection checklists auditors requested, 35 had not been retained and two were only partially retained. Auditors said the missing documentation prevented them from determining in roughly one-third of the cases whether inspections were fully completed and deficiencies were addressed.
The enforcement review found a sharper breakdown. Twenty-six inspection checklists contained deficiencies requiring a Notice of Deficiency, or NOD. Fifteen notices were never issued, nine were issued late and only one was sent within the bureau’s roughly 2½-month standard.
In one case, auditors found 14 deficiencies on a dispensary’s inspection checklists but no deficiency notice was issued. The audit said unresolved deficiencies could contribute to unsafe facility conditions or product problems.
Bureau management attributed late and missing notices to staffing pressures that included a hiring freeze, employee training, staff transitions and medical leave, as well as the absence of an automated system capable of managing the workload.
The audit also found delays after regulated businesses submitted plans explaining how they would correct deficiencies.
Of 10 plans of correction examined, only one was approved by the bureau within 30 days. Five were approved after more than 30 days, while four had never been approved as of auditors’ inquiries in February and March 2026. Approval times for the six completed reviews ranged from one to 168 days; the four still awaiting decisions had been pending between 65 and 378 days.
Auditors noted, however, that the inspection deficiencies they reviewed did not involve serious health or safety issues and said the bureau’s practice of checking corrections during the next annual inspection was appropriate in those cases.
“We found a lack of internal controls and inadequate approval processes which can ultimately reduce the effectiveness of DOH’s oversight of the program,” DeFoor said. He warned that inconsistent procedures could allow problems to remain uncorrected and potentially result in unsafe conditions at facilities or with products.
The audit separately examined 10 of the 36 complaints the bureau received during 2024. Auditors said investigators generally followed the complaint process but found that management did not formally document approval of any of the complaint conclusions they reviewed.
One of those complaints resulted in a license suspension and cease-and-desist order against a dispensary for serious violations. Two others were substantiated and resulted in deficiency notices, while seven were deemed unfounded because there was insufficient evidence of regulatory violations.
The two deficiency notices stemming from complaints were issued on time, and the facilities submitted correction plans within the required period. The bureau, however, could not provide documentation showing either correction plan had been formally reviewed and approved.
Auditors also found that three of four standard operating procedures covering key inspection functions remained in draft form. Procedures governing grower/processor renewal inspections, dispensary renewal inspections and reviews of correction plans had not received final approval; only the procedure for processing deficiency notices had been approved and implemented.
The bureau also lacked an electronic system for tracking inspections and retaining documents. An Enterprise Licensing System originally expected to become operational in August 2024 has been delayed until March 2027, according to the audit.
The Auditor General recommended standardized inspection checklists, documented supervisory review, finalized operating procedures, stronger document-retention requirements and formal processes for reviewing complaint conclusions and correction plans. Auditors also called for a defined timeline for approving or rejecting plans of correction.
The Department of Health agreed with all nine recommendations and told auditors that corrective measures were underway, including updated operating procedures, documented supervisory review and steps intended to improve the timeliness of deficiency notices and correction-plan decisions. The department said the Enterprise Licensing System should eventually automate many of those workflows.
Pennsylvania had 29 active grower/processors and 195 active dispensary locations as of June 1, 2026, underscoring the scale of the system the bureau oversees.
The program also generated about $34.3 million in tax revenue from grower/processors in the fiscal year ended June 2024 and $33.4 million in fiscal 2025, according to figures included in the audit.
The full performance audit is available through the Pennsylvania Department of the Auditor General.
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