New York Dispensaries Will Be Opening in January

Medical marijuana dispensaries in New York are set to open in January 2016. Business owners are preparing for the launch, while patients eagerly wait for them to open.

In the entire state, only 20 permits have been issued for medical marijuana dispensaries. Those dispensaries must be supplied by the 5 approved growers in New York. The regulations don’t stop there though. The state has gone as far as regulating the types of strains that growers can produce.

Growers are required to grow at least one high-CBD strain, with a ratio of CBD to THC at 20:1. They are also required to grow at least one CBD to THC strain, with a ratio of 1:1. Additional strain types may be offered, but the two aforementioned must be available on dispensary menus at all times, reports Village Voice.

The requirement of CBD strains comes from the vast medical benefits of CBD (cannabidiol) and the non-psychoactive nature of the compound. Also with this requirement, dispensaries are only permitted to offer a total of 5 different strains of medical marijuana at a time on their menus.

The first dispensaries are set to open on January 5, 2016. Business owners and growers have had only since July 31^st, when licenses were issued, to prepare their businesses for opening. With some strains taking longer to grow than others, dispensary owners had to focus on the strains that would grow and cure in a shorter amount of time.

One dispensary owner, Hillary Peckham, claims that her business, Etain, LLC, is on-schedule for opening day. Etain, LLC’s crop is ready and awaiting approval for distribution. Peckham’s grow is based out of a 12,000 square foot greenhouse.

Peckham states that, “We’ve been manufacturing vaporizing pens, tinctures, sprays and pills.” She also has plans to offer a wider range of products once the patient base is built up and the need for expansion arises.