Onondaga County to get dispensaries for three of five N.Y. medical-marijuana firms

Onondaga County will be home to dispensaries for three of the five organizations that New York state has selected for the medical-marijuana program.

Broome County will get one dispensary for another company.

The New York State Department of Health (DOH) picked five companies to manufacture and dispense the drug for medical purposes.

The state wants to have its medical-marijuana program in operation by January, DOH said in a news release posted Friday on its website.

Bloomfield Industries Inc.; Etain, LLC, which is based in Westchester County; and Oak Park, Illinois–based PharmaCann LLC will place dispensaries in Onondaga County.

Bloomfield will base its manufacturing operations in Queens County. Etain will locate its manufacturing operations in Warren County, and PharmaCann will produce the medical marijuana in Orange County.

In addition to Bloomfield, Etain, and PharmaCann, the state also awarded licenses to Columbia Care NY LLC and Empire State Health Solutions.

Empire State Health, which will locate its manufacturing operations in Fulton County, will place one of its four dispensaries in Broome County.

Each company will base manufacturing operations in one county and dispensaries in four other counties, according to the DOH news release.

New York considered 43 applications for the medical-marijuana licenses, DOH said.

The announcement represents a “major milestone” in the implementation of New York’s medical-marijuana program, keeping the state on track to get the program up and running within 18 months of passage of the Compassionate Care Act, Dr, Howard Zucker, New York’s health commissioner, said in the news release.

“The five organizations selected for registration today 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,” Zucker said.

Selection process

A team within state government with background in “several” fields conducted the evaluation process, DOH said.

Those involved includes professionals in medicine; quality assurance; analytical and medicinal chemistry; architecture and code compliance; regulatory compliance; and surveillance of health-care facilities.

DOH said it “sought to ensure” that proposed dispensaries are located throughout the state in order to “meet the needs of all certified patients.”

The laws governing the program initially permit each registered organization to produce up to five types of medical-marijuana products in forms that the health commissioner approves.

They include liquids and oils for vaporization; oromucosal or sublingual administration; or administration per tube as well as capsules to take orally.

The program requires independent laboratory testing of the final products to test for contaminants and “ensure product consistency.”

The state Department of Health must approve product pricing and any advertising, it said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com