The era of medical marijuana in New York State is expected to officially begin later this week — at least in Ulster County — when a dispensary on Route 28 is scheduled to open for business.
A spokesman for Etain Health, the start-up company that was awarded one of five licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana last summer, said he expects the company’s Town of Ulster dispensary to be open Thursday morning, unless the state fails to deliver prices for Etain’s three branded products.
It’s less clear when and if dispensaries in other parts of the state will be opened by then. The state Department of health has not returned requests for updated information on the planned roll-out of openings, which was scheduled for January 7. Potential patients and their caregivers are reportedly angry and confused by the lack of information.
The opening of the dispensaries will be the culmination of years of lobbying by medical marijuana proponents, efforts that resulted in the passage of the Compassionate Care Act in July, 2014. It’s also become what many believe to be one of Cuomo’s signature legislative acts, rivaled only by the legislature’s earlier approval of same-sex marriage.
As remarkable as the passage of the Compassionate Care Act was, it also is among the most carefully and conservatively packaged medical marijuana programs. Cuomo and the health department have made sure no one confuses the cultivation, dispensing and sale of medical marijuana with programs in other states such as Colorado, where recreational marijuana use has been legalized.
According to Etain Health spokesman Steve Stallmer, the company is carefully abiding by a set of procedures set down by the health department meant to insure that no one mistakes the modest single-story building for some sort of latter-day opium den.
Stallmer outlined those procedures earlier this week: Anyone who believes he or she could benefit from medical marijuana needs to see a physician first — but not just any physician. In order to prescribe medical marijuana, a physician must first have taken and passed a four-hour program created by the health department.
There are 11 types of illnesses and diseases that the state will allow to be treated with medical marijuana, Stallmer said. If the state-approved doctor believes a patient could benefit from medical marijuana, he or she will determine the proper dosage and write a prescription, which the patient of legal caregiver will then take to the dispensary, Stallmer said.
At the dispensary, the patient will meet one-on-one with a licensed pharmacist, will discuss what types of medical marijuana meet the patient’s needs and how that marijuana will be administered.
The three types of medical marijuana that Etain manufactures are defined by the amount of THC they contain, or the lack thereof. The three branded products are “Forte,” which is a high-THC formulation with strong euphoric effects; “Dolce,” which is low in THC but high in what’s called CBD and aimed at patients who need pain relief with only a slight euphoric effect. A third product, “Balance,” provides equal amounts of THC and CBC.
The pharmacist and patient will also decide the medium by which the medical marijuana will be delivered — by oil, using an eye-dropper, by spray, as some bottled cold remedies are packaged or by vapor, in a manner similar to e-cigarettes.
Once the product and medium are decided on, Stallmer said, the patient will be given a 30-day supply. What has yet to be determined is the price of each product, he said.
At first, Stallmer said patients should plan on making an appointment to visit the dispensary, in addition to the company’s web site, https://etainhealth.com/news/. People with questions about medical marijuana can call 914-437-7898.
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