Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Now Open in Nassau, Suffolk

Two Long Island medical marijuana dispensaries in Nassau and Suffolk are now open for business.

The Lake Success and Riverhead locations both opened Friday morning.

It was announced in July of last year Nassau and Suffolk would each get a dispensary.

• Bloomfield Industries Inc. opened the Lake Success dispensary, located at 2001 Marcus Avenue, Suite N1.
• Columbia Care NY LLC opened the Riverhead dispensary, located at 1107 Old Country Road.

Columbia Care also opened locations in Plattsburgh and Rochester this week.

The full list of New York’s medical marijuana dispensaries can be found here.

Seven dispensaries opened on Jan. 7 in Onondaga, Erie, Albany, Ulster and Westchester Counties, and in Manhattan. The additional dispensing sites opened on a rolling basis throughout the month.

New York’s Medical Marijuana Program officially launched Jan. 7, just 18 months after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Compassionate Care Act.

“Governor Cuomo gave us an extremely ambitious timeline to get the Medical Marijuana Program up and running, and I am pleased that we have met his goals,” New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said in a press release. “Our program ensures the availability of pharmaceutical-grade medical marijuana products for certified patients and establishes strict regulatory controls to protect public health and safety.”

COO of Bloomfield Industries Colette Bellefleur said: “Bloomfield Industries has been working collaboratively with the NYS Department of Health to get our medicine approved and our facilities up and running safely and successfully. We look forward to delivering on the promise of the Compassionate Care Act for patients who are suffering throughout New York State.”

Columbia Care CEO Nicholas Vita said: “This week marks a milestone for Columbia Care and patients of New York. Over the past six months we have worked tirelessly to meet patient needs throughout the state and we look forward to continuing this work as the program develops. We are proud to offer the patients of New York access to the highest quality products in the United States and have taken great care to ensure that every location we open, in New York and elsewhere, offers a safe and positive experience patients can be proud of.”

Bloomfield and Columbia were among five companies that were originally issued registrations to manufacture and dispense medical marijuana.

Zucker said in July that the five chosen organizations “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.”

Neither Bloomfield nor Columbia manufacture on Long Island. They manufacture in Queens and Rochester, respectively.

Those who qualify for medical marijuana can obtain prescriptions in the approved forms:

• Vaporization
• Oromucosal (orally administered in solid, semi-solid or liquid form)
• Sublingual administration (dissolvable under the tongue)
• Administration per tube
• Oral capsules

Anyone with a debilitating or life threatening-condition is eligible to use medical marijuana. According to the DOH, those who suffer from the following conditions qualify: cancer, HIV infection or AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury with spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathy, and Huntington’s disease. The associated or complicating conditions are cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, or severe or persistent muscle spasms.

Learn more about the New York State Medical Marijuana Program here.