Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Unlike run-of-the-mill prescription drugs, you won't be able to pick up medical marijuana at the corner drugstore.
The state's program calls for five licensed operators, each with a growing operation and four dispensaries to serve the entire state. By contrast, there were 5,398 pharmacies and 142 drug manufacturers statewide as of Jan. 1, according to state data.
The small size of the program has some advocates worried about the ability of patients to obtain the drug. As the state finalizes the program's draft regulations, advocates are making a final effort to call attention to their concerns over accessibility and affordability before the regulations are approved in the coming weeks and businesses begin submitting applications.
"Twenty dispensaries for the entire state is just not going to be enough," said Nancy Rivera of Compassionate Care NY. "There's about 55,000 square miles of land in New York state. ... In our area here in Albany, the Troy area, if everyone has to go to Albany they have to be either taking a bus or they have to have a vehicle."
Rivera often uses Arizona as an example of broader patient access. There, the program was set so as many dispensaries as 10 percent of all pharmacies would be allowed. Some 1,250 pharmacies allowed for 125 dispensaries, she said.
"One hundred twenty-five for the state of Arizona is a lot more than 20 for New York state," she said.
Aside from location, neither potential patients nor the businesses preparing to submit proposals know what the price of medical marijuana will be set at by the state Department of Health. New York will be the only state in the nation to set uniform costs, said Gabriel Sayegh of the Drug Policy Alliance.
The Health Department has not made public any plans about its pricing model. Rivera said some advocates are asking for a sliding scale and for prices that will make the drug affordable for low-income patients.
If other states with market rates are an indication of what the drug might cost in New York, things could get expensive. Last fall in Connecticut, customers were complaining of high prices that were driving them back to underground suppliers. According to the Hartford Business Journal, prices last September were about $16 to $20 per gram. As of Sunday, the price for edibles – foods are not allowed under the New York program, oils for certain types of administration are – were selling between $27 and $150 at one Hartford-area dispensary. At another in Bethel, not far from the New York border, edibles ranged from $30 to near $100, depending on the grade of the marijuana. "You want to make sure that the cost of any of the medicines is not cost-prohibitive to the patient," Sayegh said. "That includes making sure that the cost of marijuana products are not far more costly than they are on the illicit market."
There's also a question of how customers will be able to pay for their marijuana. Sayegh said it appears New York will have a cash program, though the draft regulations don't outline if cash, check or credit sales will be OK.
If what's happening in other states with medical and/or recreational marijuana programs is any indication, the cash crop could present a sticky situation. Stateline, a Pew Charitable Trusts-funded nonprofit news service, reported in January that banks have been reluctant to take cash from medical marijuana businesses because the drug is still an illegal substance in the federal government's eyes and they don't want to be implicated in money laundering or other potential violations. Even guidance memos from the federal Treasury and Justice departments to banks and federal attorneys on how to properly deal with state-sanctioned marijuana businesses haven't completely put the financial institutions at ease, Stateline reported.
There's concern New York could run into similar problems, but Sayegh and Rivera are hopeful the state will clear the hurdles as implementation nears. "There are 23 jurisdictions with medical marijuana passed right now. The country of Canada, the country of Israel both run federal medical marijuana programs," Sayegh said. "This is not a new thing. It's complicated, but it's not rocket science. It can be done. We'll see what the state does here."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The tricky logistics of medical marijuana - Times Union
Author: Matthew Hamilton
Contact: jmorrell@timesunion.com
Photo Credit: Ed Kashi
Website: Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Saratoga News, Weather, Sports, Capitol | timesunion.com - Times Union
The state's program calls for five licensed operators, each with a growing operation and four dispensaries to serve the entire state. By contrast, there were 5,398 pharmacies and 142 drug manufacturers statewide as of Jan. 1, according to state data.
The small size of the program has some advocates worried about the ability of patients to obtain the drug. As the state finalizes the program's draft regulations, advocates are making a final effort to call attention to their concerns over accessibility and affordability before the regulations are approved in the coming weeks and businesses begin submitting applications.
"Twenty dispensaries for the entire state is just not going to be enough," said Nancy Rivera of Compassionate Care NY. "There's about 55,000 square miles of land in New York state. ... In our area here in Albany, the Troy area, if everyone has to go to Albany they have to be either taking a bus or they have to have a vehicle."
Rivera often uses Arizona as an example of broader patient access. There, the program was set so as many dispensaries as 10 percent of all pharmacies would be allowed. Some 1,250 pharmacies allowed for 125 dispensaries, she said.
"One hundred twenty-five for the state of Arizona is a lot more than 20 for New York state," she said.
Aside from location, neither potential patients nor the businesses preparing to submit proposals know what the price of medical marijuana will be set at by the state Department of Health. New York will be the only state in the nation to set uniform costs, said Gabriel Sayegh of the Drug Policy Alliance.
The Health Department has not made public any plans about its pricing model. Rivera said some advocates are asking for a sliding scale and for prices that will make the drug affordable for low-income patients.
If other states with market rates are an indication of what the drug might cost in New York, things could get expensive. Last fall in Connecticut, customers were complaining of high prices that were driving them back to underground suppliers. According to the Hartford Business Journal, prices last September were about $16 to $20 per gram. As of Sunday, the price for edibles – foods are not allowed under the New York program, oils for certain types of administration are – were selling between $27 and $150 at one Hartford-area dispensary. At another in Bethel, not far from the New York border, edibles ranged from $30 to near $100, depending on the grade of the marijuana. "You want to make sure that the cost of any of the medicines is not cost-prohibitive to the patient," Sayegh said. "That includes making sure that the cost of marijuana products are not far more costly than they are on the illicit market."
There's also a question of how customers will be able to pay for their marijuana. Sayegh said it appears New York will have a cash program, though the draft regulations don't outline if cash, check or credit sales will be OK.
If what's happening in other states with medical and/or recreational marijuana programs is any indication, the cash crop could present a sticky situation. Stateline, a Pew Charitable Trusts-funded nonprofit news service, reported in January that banks have been reluctant to take cash from medical marijuana businesses because the drug is still an illegal substance in the federal government's eyes and they don't want to be implicated in money laundering or other potential violations. Even guidance memos from the federal Treasury and Justice departments to banks and federal attorneys on how to properly deal with state-sanctioned marijuana businesses haven't completely put the financial institutions at ease, Stateline reported.
There's concern New York could run into similar problems, but Sayegh and Rivera are hopeful the state will clear the hurdles as implementation nears. "There are 23 jurisdictions with medical marijuana passed right now. The country of Canada, the country of Israel both run federal medical marijuana programs," Sayegh said. "This is not a new thing. It's complicated, but it's not rocket science. It can be done. We'll see what the state does here."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: The tricky logistics of medical marijuana - Times Union
Author: Matthew Hamilton
Contact: jmorrell@timesunion.com
Photo Credit: Ed Kashi
Website: Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Saratoga News, Weather, Sports, Capitol | timesunion.com - Times Union
