The NY State Health Department announced that five companies have been cleared to open marijuana dispensaries in New York City, including Brooklyn’s first.
Five companies have been granted the necessary licenses to open dispensaries in New York City. The New York State Health Department granted licenses to Valley Agriceuticals, Citiva, Pallia, NYCanna, and Fiorello Pharmaceutics, who have all been operating in the five dispensaries currently operating in other parts of the state.
Manhattan will get a dispensary by Fiorello Pharmaceutics, Queens will see dispensaries by Pallia and NYCanna, and Brooklyn will welcome its first dispensaries by Valley Agriceuticals and Citiva. In an article by dnainfo, Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said:
“The addition of these registered organizations will make it easier for patients across the state to obtain medical marijuana, improve the affordability of medical marijuana products through the introduction of new competition, and increase the variety of medical marijuana products available to patients,”
The Health Department also cleared Medical marijuana to be available in alternative forms that were previously unavailable according to a post by nydailynews. Patients will be able to take their medication in chewable tablets, lozenges, marijuana patches, effervescent tablets and non-smokable forms of ground plant material.
Although it was recently expanded to include chronic pain, qualifying conditions for the legal use of medical marijuana in New York are a little stricter than other parts of the country. Only doctors who have taken a four-hour training program can certify patients for medical marijuana use. Another planned improvement to the program includes an online two-hour training program for doctors.
For those who do qualify for treatment, the new dispensaries allow much greater access to treatment. The dispensaries could open in early 2018, once the sites have passed inspections by Health Department.
[H/T dnainfo] & [H/T dnnydailynews]
Featured image source [Fpixabay]