A national medical marijuana dispensary brand is planting its roots in Forest Hills.
Curaleaf New York will become the second pot dispensary to set up shop in Queens when it opens a 3,000-square-foot storefront at 107-18 70th Road this summer, owners announced Tuesday.
The dispensary brand, which operates medical marijuana joints across the country, is slated to open the site “in early summer” between Queens Boulevard and Austin Street, a Curaleaf spokesperson confirmed. The site was chosen for its easy access to public transportation, including the Long Island Rail Road and E, F, M and R subway lines.
The new dispensary will serve medical pot in the form of capsules, tablets, tinctures, oils and other forms to New York City patients suffering from cancer, chronic pain and other conditions permitted under the State Department of Health’s medial marijuana program, a Curaleaf spokesperson said.
It will be managed by a New York licensed pharmacist, and counselors will be on-site to help patients pick out the best treatment for their needs.
The dispensary will become one of just two legal medical marijuana clinics legally allowed to operate in Queens, state records show. The other space, Vireo Health, opened January 2016 at 89-55 Queens Blvd. in Elmhurst.
It’s opening is part of a significant expansion for Curaleaf, whose parent company, PalliaTech NY, is one of just 10 organizations licensed to dispense and manufacture marijuana in New York, according to state health department records.
Curaleaf’s New York branch operates two other upstate dispensaries in Newburgh and Plattsburgh and is slated to open a Long Island location in Carle Place this summer, said PalliaTech NY President Michelle Bodner.
“Our focus is on ensuring patients facing serious medical issues have access to these important treatments, and we look forward to opening our doors and helping those in need,” Bodner said.
Curaleaf also recently opened the largest cannabis dispenser on the East Coast – a 6,150-square-foot spot just 10 miles south of Philadelphia – in Camden County, New Jersey, The Inquirer reported. The marijuana dispensary brand also has operations in Maine, Massachusettss, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Arizona and Florida.
