2 Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Are Coming to Long Island

Long Island will be getting two medical marijuana dispensaries, one in Nassau and one in Suffolk, under New York State’s Medical Marijuana Program, state officials announced Friday.

However, the New York State Department of Health named the five companies that will be issued registrations to manufacture and dispense medical marijuana, and none are located on Long Island.

Two of the approved manufacturing organizations will dispense on Long Island:

• Bloomfield Industries Inc., which will manufacture in Queens, will dispense in Nassau.
• Columbia Care NY LLC, which will manufacture in Rochester, will dispense in Suffolk.

New York State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said in a statement that the five chosen organizations “showed, through a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation process, they are best suited to produce and provide quality medical marijuana to eligible New Yorkers in need, and to comply with New York’s strict program requirements.”

The five companies chosen by the DOH to grow and sell medical medical marijuana are:

• Bloomfield Industries Inc., which will manufacture in Queens and dispense in Nassau, Manhattan, Onondaga and Erie counties.
• Columbia Care NY LLC, which will manufacture in Rochester and dispense in Monroe, Manhattan, Suffolk and Clinton counties.
• Empire State Health Solutions, which will manufacture in Fulton County and dispense in Broome, Albany, Westchester and Queens counties.
• Etain, LLC, which will manufacture in Warren County and dispense in Albany, Ulster, Westchester and Onondaga counties.
• PharmaCann LLC, which will manufacture in Orange County and dispense in Erie, Onondaga, Albany and Bronx counties.

The state’s much-anticipated medical marijuana program is on track to open to patients in January 2016.

Those who qualify for medical marijuana can obtain prescriptions in the approved forms:

• Vaporization
• Oromucosal (orally administered in solid, semi-solid or liquid form)
• Sublingual administration (dissolvable under the tongue)
• Administration per tube
• Oral capsules

Anyone with a debilitating or life threatening-condition is eligible to use medical marijuana. According to the DOH, those who suffer from the following conditions qualify: cancer, HIV infection or AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury with spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathy, and Huntington’s disease. The associated or complicating conditions are cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, or severe or persistent muscle spasms.

Learn more about the New York State Medical Marijuana Program here.