Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Albany – The Cuomo administration has begun interviewing additional medical marijuana growers in hopes of expanding the program in the first half of next year, Department of Health officials said Tuesday.
The agency has reached out to an additional five bidders who submitted applications in June 2015 to grow and dispense medical marijuana, Josh Vinciguerra, director of the health department's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, told POLITICO New York.
The companies – New York Canna Inc., Fiorello Pharmaceuticals, Valley Agriceuticals, Citiva Medical and PalliaTech NY – were contacted so the DOH could "get an update on their financial situation and their business plan," Vinciguerra said.
"We would expect that once we've had a chance to review that, registration could take place some time in the first half of next year. But that doesn't necessarily mean that a business would be operational, because we are phasing it in," he said.
Forty-three companies applied for a license in 2015 and the top five scorers were awarded licenses to grow the drug and have up to four dispensaries each.
The scoring criteria – which took into consideration things like product manufacturing, security, distribution and financial standings – resulted in very close scores between the winning bidders and some of the runners-up.
For instance, Bloomfield Industries, the fifth-place bidder, received a score of 90.59. The sixth-place applicant, New York Canna Inc., received a score of 90.43. The 10th-place scorer, PalliaTech NY, had a score of 89.31.
DOH is looking "really closely" at locations for the new dispensaries, Vinciguerra said
Patients and advocates have criticized the law as being too restrictive and dispensaries sparsely located.
Long Island, for example, has two dispensaries – one in Nassau County and another roughly 60 miles away in Riverhead, in Suffolk County. The Southern Tier and the North Country have one dispensary each.
While the companies that were awarded licenses have lobbied the state to expand the program, they're against adding additional growers and dispensaries, arguing that additional competition will hurt their already ailing bottom line.
The New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association, a trade group that represents the five existing growers, told the DOH last month that the "market will be incapable of supporting both current and additional registered organizations until patient participation is drastically increased," according to the letter obtained by the Daily News.
"Economically speaking, the current challenges in New York's medical marijuana market stem not from supply but entirely from patient demand," the association wrote.
Expansion of the program beyond the existing five licensees has been part of the Cuomo administration's overhaul of the fledgling program unveiled over the summer.
In recent weeks, the state announced that it would soon add chronic pain as a qualifying condition to obtain the drug. Nurse practitioners and physician's assistants will also be eligible to approve patients for medical marijuana, as long as the supervising physician also is registered with the state to certify patients.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: State Aims To Expand Medical Marijuana Program Next Year
Author: Josefa Velasquez
Contact: 703.647.7999
Photo Credit: Mary Altaffer
Website: Politico
The agency has reached out to an additional five bidders who submitted applications in June 2015 to grow and dispense medical marijuana, Josh Vinciguerra, director of the health department's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, told POLITICO New York.
The companies – New York Canna Inc., Fiorello Pharmaceuticals, Valley Agriceuticals, Citiva Medical and PalliaTech NY – were contacted so the DOH could "get an update on their financial situation and their business plan," Vinciguerra said.
"We would expect that once we've had a chance to review that, registration could take place some time in the first half of next year. But that doesn't necessarily mean that a business would be operational, because we are phasing it in," he said.
Forty-three companies applied for a license in 2015 and the top five scorers were awarded licenses to grow the drug and have up to four dispensaries each.
The scoring criteria – which took into consideration things like product manufacturing, security, distribution and financial standings – resulted in very close scores between the winning bidders and some of the runners-up.
For instance, Bloomfield Industries, the fifth-place bidder, received a score of 90.59. The sixth-place applicant, New York Canna Inc., received a score of 90.43. The 10th-place scorer, PalliaTech NY, had a score of 89.31.
DOH is looking "really closely" at locations for the new dispensaries, Vinciguerra said
Patients and advocates have criticized the law as being too restrictive and dispensaries sparsely located.
Long Island, for example, has two dispensaries – one in Nassau County and another roughly 60 miles away in Riverhead, in Suffolk County. The Southern Tier and the North Country have one dispensary each.
While the companies that were awarded licenses have lobbied the state to expand the program, they're against adding additional growers and dispensaries, arguing that additional competition will hurt their already ailing bottom line.
The New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association, a trade group that represents the five existing growers, told the DOH last month that the "market will be incapable of supporting both current and additional registered organizations until patient participation is drastically increased," according to the letter obtained by the Daily News.
"Economically speaking, the current challenges in New York's medical marijuana market stem not from supply but entirely from patient demand," the association wrote.
Expansion of the program beyond the existing five licensees has been part of the Cuomo administration's overhaul of the fledgling program unveiled over the summer.
In recent weeks, the state announced that it would soon add chronic pain as a qualifying condition to obtain the drug. Nurse practitioners and physician's assistants will also be eligible to approve patients for medical marijuana, as long as the supervising physician also is registered with the state to certify patients.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: State Aims To Expand Medical Marijuana Program Next Year
Author: Josefa Velasquez
Contact: 703.647.7999
Photo Credit: Mary Altaffer
Website: Politico
