Nassau County to get two more medical marijuana dispensaries

Access to cannabis treatment grows in importance, Cuomo says

Posted Thursday, August 10, 2017 12:32 pm

Nassau County will get two new medical marijuana dispensaries within the coming year.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS IMAGE

The logistics of New York’s medical marijuana dispensaries

New York’s registered organizations must operate under the following rules (outlined in the Department of Health’s Compassionate Care Act):

• Marijuana must be distributed in the form of liquid or oil for vaporization or capsules for swallowing

• Additional forms of intake must approved by the commissioner

• Smoking or edible products are not permitted

• Companies may manufacture up to five brands of medical marijuana products

•One of these brands must have an equal ration of THC to CBD and another must have a low-THC to high-CBD ratio

• THC or tetrahydrocannabinol is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana whereas CBD or cannabidiol is the non-psychoactive compound that makes up 40 percent of the plants extract

By Brian Stieglitz

Five medical marijuana dispensaries will be setting up shop in New York, with two to come to Nassau County, according to an Aug 1 announcement from The New York State Department of Health.

The objective in adding five more to the existing five dispensaries is to increase accessibility to medical marijuana, alleviate the cost burden on patients by encouraging corporate competition and create more marijuana products, Department of Health spokesperson Howard Zucker wrote in a release.

Fiorello Pharmaceuticals and PalliaTech NY will receive licenses to distribute in Nassau County. Also coming to New York will be New York Canna, Valley Agriceuticals and Citiva Medical.

“We’re gauging the situation as we go,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, adding that the need for more dispensaries came with the increasing number of certified patients since New York legalized medical marijuana in 2014.

As of Aug 1 there were 25,736 patients certified for medical marijuana treatment. That number increased by 10,744, or 72 percent, since March when the Department of Health added chronic pain as an eligible condition, according to Zucker.

None of the registered organizations will be manufacturing cannabis on Long Island and specific locations of the dispensaries have yet to be disclosed.

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