State Department of Health Announces Selection of Five Organizations to Manufacture and Dispense Medical Marijuana In New York State

ALBANY, N.Y. (July 31, 2015) - The New York State Department of Health (DOH) today announced its selection of five organizations to be issued registrations to manufacture and dispense medical marijuana under New York State's Medical Marijuana Program. The selection of the five registered organizations is a key step forward in the accelerated timetable to implement the Medical Marijuana Program by January 2016. New York State is working to implement the program and begin providing care to patients faster than any other state has previously done.

"Today's announcement represents a major milestone in the implementation of New York State's Medical Marijuana Program and keeps us on track to have the program up and running within 18 months of passage of the Compassionate Care Act. I am proud that we are on course to provide certified patients with access to medical marijuana more quickly than any other state in the nation," said New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker. "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."

The five organizations, and the location by county of their intended manufacturing and dispensing sites, are as follows:

Organization Name Facility Type County
Bloomfield Industries Inc. Manufacturing Queens
Dispensing Nassau
Dispensing New York
Dispensing Onondaga
Dispensing Erie
Columbia Care NY LLC Manufacturing Monroe
Dispensing New York
Dispensing Suffolk
Dispensing Clinton
Dispensing Monroe
Empire State Health Solutions Manufacturing Fulton
Dispensing Broome
Dispensing Albany
Dispensing Westchester
Dispensing Queens
Etain, LLC Manufacturing Warren
Dispensing Albany
Dispensing Ulster
Dispensing Westchester
Dispensing Onondaga
PharmaCann LLC Manufacturing Orange
Dispensing Erie
Dispensing Onondaga
Dispensing Albany
Dispensing Bronx

Forty-three applications were submitted by the June 5, 2015 deadline to apply for one of the five registered organization registrations. The evaluation process was conducted by a team of professionals from within state government with backgrounds in several fields, including, but not limited to, the practice of medicine, quality assurance, analytical and medicinal chemistry, architecture and code compliance, regulatory compliance, and surveillance of health care facilities. As part of the selection process, DOH sought to ensure that proposed dispensaries are located throughout the state in order to meet the needs of all certified patients. Additionally, DOH will carefully monitor patient demand to ensure all New Yorkers who meet the requirements of the Compassionate Care Act have access to the program. For additional information on the evaluation/scoring process, click here.

As set forth in the Program's implementing statute, each registered organization will initially be permitted to produce up to five types of medical marijuana products in forms approved by the State Health Commissioner. Approved forms include liquids and oils for vaporization, oromucosal or sublingual administration, or administration per tube as well as capsules to take orally. Independent laboratory testing of the final products is required, to test for contaminants and ensure product consistency. Further, DOH must approve product pricing and any advertising.

New York State has adopted regulations which provide a comprehensive framework to govern all aspects of the Program. Registered organizations must adhere to the rigorous security requirements set forth in the program regulations. These include maintaining separate facilities to manufacture and dispense medical marijuana, as well as satisfying strict guidelines for operational procedures, periodic reporting, product quality, inventory controls, prevention of the diversion of marijuana, and facility security including, but not limited to, physical security.

DOH also retains the authority to revoke registrations of registered organizations that are found to have failed to meet and satisfy the regulatory requirements. Registrations are valid for two years from the date of issuance. During a window of time near the end of the two years, each registered organization must apply for renewal of registration. For more information about renewal of registration, refer to New York State's Medical Marijuana regulations, here.

All 43 applications received by DOH, which include tens of thousands of pages of information, will be made publicly available after appropriate redactions of trade secrets, personal information, and critical infrastructure information. DOH will begin releasing information today regarding all 43 applicants, including the scoring of all applications, the scoring criteria, and the location by county of the manufacturing sites and dispensing facilities of the applicants chosen for registration.

For more information about New York State's Medical Marijuana Program, visit: https://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/medical_marijuana/.