Governor Tom Wolf signed off on Pennsylvania's medical cannabis program in April of last year. Medicinal marijuana can now be prescribed for a number of ailments including cancer, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and PTSD. The marijuana will be dispensed in the form of pills, liquids or oils; smokable cannabis is not part of the plan.

Last month, the Pennsylvania Department of Health issued permits to growers and dispensaries, moving the process forward. There are still many legal obstacles and many investors in the industry that did not see their ventures receive permitting. Distribution in PA is scheduled for January of 2018, but there are many uncertainties, including the response by Jeff Session's Department of Justice to state legalization.

Smart Talk looks at the state of medical cannabis in Pennsylvania; where we are in the process, how the legal questions should and will be answered and how finance will be managed. We will be joined by Heather Stauffer, the LNP staff reporter covering medicinal marijuana in the region. Judi Cassel of Cannabis Law PA will parse out the legalese of the industry. John Pohlhaus is the CEO of Franklin Labs, a marijuana cultivator and distributor and he will talk about navigating a company through the morass of local, state and federal codes and Patrick Nightingale, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Medical Cannabis Society will discuss counseling doctors, patients and dispensaries on the commerce and consumption of therapeutic marijuana.

Franklin and Marshall College professor of political science G. Terry Madonna sits in for a vacationing Scott LaMar.

Functional medicine is a form of preventative care; the focus being on maintaining a healthy relationship between the organs and entire systems. Treatment includes detoxification, the use of homeopathic supplements and individualized nutritional plans. Proponents of functional medicine say this approach addresses root causes of illness and disease.

Smart Talk will explore the use of functional medicine and its applications in the region. Guest host Valerie Pritchett of ABC 27 speaks with Dr. John Neely, a functional medicine practitioner certified by American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine.

Also, the field of veterinary medicine has seen incredible advancements over the years; from acupuncture for your Airedale to CAT scans for your cat. Issues of medical ethics are being applied to the world of animal medicine as Americans develop familial connections to their pets.

Smart Talk will look at the veterinary sciences in 2017 and take your questions with Dr. Christine Bunner of the Rossmoyne Animal Hospital and Dr. Alan Kirmayer, Chief of Staff at the Animal Hospital of Rye in Marysville.

During a statehouse hearing on self-driving cars, Pennsylvania Representative Kate Harper realized that her experience as a senior caregiver gave her a perspective into policymaking that many of her male colleagues lacked. Nineteen percent of the state's general assembly is female.

The Pennsylvania Center for Women in Politics has released a report examining the role of the female perspective in lawmaking and the need for a more balanced legislature. Marie Cusick, sitting in for Scott LaMar, will speak to Dana Brown, Pennsylvania Center for Women in Politics at Chatham University and State Representative Tina Pickett about the study.

Also, fifteen years ago, nine miners were trapped for more than three days in the Quecreek coal mine. The rescue operation was treacherous and beset by many setbacks, but after 77 hours, all nine miners emerged, alive. Smart Talk will look at the incident that caused the collapse and remember the heroic efforts of the rescuers who saved nine lives in Somerset County.

Dakota Access, Atlantic Sunrise, Mariner East 2 -- all pipeline projects that have generated fierce opposition where they're being built, including here in Central Pennsylvania.

Opposition to a major project is nothing new whether the concern is the environment, safety, traffic or simply when neighbors cry "not in my backyard." But the number of pipelines is increasing across the country and Pennsylvania is a prime location for new pipelines with the natural gas upsurge in the Marcellus Shale.

The companies that are building those pipelines must go through an extensive process for approval. Ultimately, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC must give their approval to pipelines.

A months-long investigation by WITF's StateImpact Pennsylvania and the Center for Public Integrity brings into question whether FERC is too close to the industries and companies that transport oil and gas through pipelines. The report found that FERC has denied just two pipeline projects over the last 30 years.

We'll learn more about what the FERC investigation found on Friday's Smart Talk. StateImpact Pennsylvania reporter Marie Cusick appears on the program along with Kristen Lombardi and Jamie Smith Hopkins of the Center for Public Integrity.

Three state cabinet secretaries appear on Thursday's Smart Talk to discuss Pennsylvania's renewed efforts to do its part in the Chesapeake Bay clean-up. Appearing on the program are Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection Patrick McDonnell, Cindy Dunn, Secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding.

The Chesapeake Bay is known for a lot of things. Along with its Blue Crabs, oysters and status as the largest estuary in the United States--it is also notoriously dirty. Clean water standards have been historically disagreed upon, but for the first time in decades, things might be looking up for the Blue crabs and watershed residents.

What exactly makes the Bay so dirty? Algae blooms mostly, that grow from an excess of nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. The nutrients create a toxic environment and decrease oxygen levels in the water leading to "dead zones." While algae are a normal, healthy part of any ecosystem, the Bay's surplus of these toxic blooms endangers the health of its marine animal and plant life and thus, human beings. Many residents of the Bay's watershed can't drink their own well water due to the high levels of nitrates, and swimming in the Bay is considered ill-advised.

The Bay's dirty water problem is multi-faceted. The main source of the pollution is not due to major contaminators such as sewage plants and factories, as these are controlled dumpers. Instead, the pollution is due to urban and industrial run-off from septic tanks, lawns, parking lots, and most significantly, farming. There is a longstanding battle between Attorney Generals and the Environmental Protection Agency as agricultural agencies pushback against the EPA's blueprints for cleaner farming. However, headway has been made according to recent reports by The Chesapeake Bay Program, though there is still much work to be done. Restoring the Bay to health is essentially a team effort.

Also joining us on Smart Talk is WHYY Philadelphia's Kevin McCorry, to discuss his new podcast "Schooled." The podcast takes a close, personal look at the nation's public schools, and the state of public education. Kevin is part of the Keystone Crossroads team, a public media partnership which examines the pressing problems and possible solutions of Pennsylvania's cities.

Many, and maybe even most Republican candidates for national office have campaigned in the last seven years by promising to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. They did so by criticizing the mandate that all Americans were required to have health insurance, that premiums were too high, the number of insurance plans were limited and that Medicaid expansion was not sustainable financially.

Since President Trump took office with Republican majorities in the U.S. House and Senate, Republicans have worked on a few plans to repeal and replace Obamacare. The latest, orchestrated in the Senate, was pulled earlier this week when it became evident that there weren't enough votes to pass.

Now, Obamacare may be repealed but not replaced with another plan or allowed to continue as is. Trump said it will collapse.

So, what happens next and what does it mean to you? WITF's Transforming Health reporter Ben Allen breaks it down for us on Wednesday's Smart Talk.

Next week, the 20thannual SABR Negro League Research Conference will be held in Harrisburg. It will bring researchers, historians and authors from across the country and Canada to focus on baseball played by African-Americans before blacks were allowed to play Major League baseball. Some of baseball's best players like Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell played in the Negro Leagues. After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, only a handful got to play in the major leagues.

Ted Knorr is a local baseball historian with extensive knowledge of the Negro Leagues and one of the organizers of the conference. He appears on Wednesday's Smart Talk.

More than 4,500 people died of an opioid overdose in Pennsylvania last year. Another 1,500 were admitted to hospitals to be treated for heroin overdoses -- a 66% increase over the year before.

That's according to recent research from the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Council.

The report also showed rural counties like Perry, Lebanon and Northumberland had some of the highest rates of overdoses in the state.

So what do all these numbers mean and what action is the state taking to fight the opioid crisis?? We'll find out on Tuesday's Smart Talk from Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine and Joe Martin, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Council.

Also, education in America hasn't changed much in the past hundred years. That's even though the world around schools has and certainly technology has progressed - especially in the last 20 years. Today's high school seniors have probably been exposed to computers and mobile phones for most of their lives. The careers and jobs they choose will certainly involve technology. So what are schools doing to utilize technology in the classroom?

We'll learn more from Josh DeSantis, Professor of Education at York College of Pennsylvania and Michael Snell, Superintendent in the Central York School District.

"The Bubble," of Boiling Springs, Cumberland County, has been a point of much speculation by locals. The spring provides water to the borough's recreational lake and is the summit of miles of underground caves that can be explored by divers. The source of the spring has long remained a mystery. However, a recent discovery by a team of geologists from Franklin Marshall College has hydrologists rethinking typical models of ground-water flow.

The research team consisted of two professors of geoscience, Tim Bechtel and Robert Walter, and a student-researcher, Jake Longenecker. Their research included water sensors, NASA satellite data, and computer algorithms. The team recently released their findings in a scientific journal of geoscience, "Geophysical Research Letters." All three are on Monday's Smart Talk.

The study reveals that the source of "The Bubble" is from the other side of the Maryland mountains, about 50 miles south of the spring. This outcome challenges what hydrologists previously deemed geologically possible for ground-water flow, as it requires the water to move through 10 different kinds of rock. These findings may provide new opportunities for research and fresh water sourcing.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is also on Monday's program to discuss a program to hand out drug deactivation and disposal bags in counties hit hardest by the opioid crisis

More than fifteen-hundred Pennsylvanians received lifesaving organs from registered donors last year. One donor can save eight lives, anyone of any age can donate organs and there is no cost to donors for organ or tissue donation. Nonetheless, 395 Pennsylvanians died in 2016 while waiting for an organ transplant.

In recent years, there have been many efforts to broaden the donor pool - from registering as a donor with driver's license renewal to proposing tax incentives for registering as a donor. A bill proposed in the state General Assembly last year would streamline the process of harvesting organs. The proposal was opposed by the state's 67 coroners who felt that rushing the harvesting prevented them from properly performing autopsies and compromising criminal prosecutions. That bill was tabled indefinately.

Advocates of organ donation, with the support of state lawmakers, rely primarily on education to get Pennsylvanians to register as organ donors. On Friday's Smart Talk, We'll speak with Richard Hasz, Vice President of Clinical Services with the Gift of Life Donor Program about the need for organ donation and efforts to connect donors with recipients. Republican State Representative John Galloway of Bucks County proposed a provision that would offer a tax credit to donors. He will join us on Smart Talk to discuss the merits of the proposal and we'll explore the ethics of organ donation with Dr. Michael Freeman, director of pediatric dialysis services and a clinical ethics consultant at Penn State Children's Hospital.

We will also be joined by Central Pennsylvanians who will share their experiences as donors and recipients of much needed organs and how these donation programs changed their lives. Joe Gargiulo is a retired school administrator who recieved a life saving kidney and pancreas transplant. Whitney Baker donated one of her kidneys to a lifelong friend suffering from renal failure. They will share their experiences with organ donation.

In a little over a month from now on August 26, all phone calls made in the 717 area code will have to made to include the area code rather than just a seven digit number. In fact, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission would like to start doing it now to get in the habit. A new area code - 223 - will be introduced. It's because the 717 area code is running out of numbers.

Nils Frederickson, the press secretary for the PUC appears on Thursday's Smart Talk.

Pennsylvania is one of 13 states where voters choose a candidate for Lieutenant governor in a primary election, who then runs with the party's candidate for governor in the general election. Amid reports that Lt. Gov. Mike Stack and his wife may have mistreated employees, legislation has been proposed to allow the candidates for governor to choose their running mates for lieutenant governor - like presidential candidates do when picking a candidate for vice president. It would take a Constitutional amendment but that's step Republican Senator David Argall of Schuylkill County is willing to take.

Billy Porter is the classic Broadway triple threat: he sings, he dances, he acts. Porter won the 2013 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Kinky Boots. He is also a producer - the recently released album "Billy Porter Presents: The Soul of Richard Rodgers" is a collection of Rodgers music performed and produced by Porter. And he is very focused on supporting the performing arts in communities throughout the country.

Billy Porter will perform this Saturday at a benefit concert for the Prima Theatre in Lancaster.