A sign with a green cross directs customers to the entrance of The Health Center, a cannabis dispensary in Denver. (Vince Chandler, The Denver Post)

1,000 sign up for Pennsylvania medical marijuana program on first day. Here’s how to join them

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Health says more than 1,000 people signed up for the state’s new medical marijuana program on its first day.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported the registrations include patients and caregivers, according to a health department spokesman.

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The department announced Wednesday that it was accepting applications to participate in the system.

A 2016 state law gives people under a doctor’s care access to medical marijuana if they suffer from an illness on a list of 17 qualifying conditions, including AIDS, autism, cancer, chronic pain and Crohn’s disease.

The law permits pills, oils, vapor or liquid marijuana, but not marijuana in plant form.

Doctors must certify the illness and patients must obtain an identification card from the health department. There are more than 50 dispensaries approved for selling cannabis products to patients.