Yahoo - AFP Relax News, January 6, 2016
New York officially launches marijuana as a form of medical treatment Thursday, becoming the 23rd US state to do so as the taboo surrounding its legalized medicinal use starts to shift.
New York embarks on medical marijuana use Thursday |
New York officially launches marijuana as a form of medical treatment Thursday, becoming the 23rd US state to do so as the taboo surrounding its legalized medicinal use starts to shift.
Under the
legislation, five companies are authorized to grow marijuana for medicinal
purposes in the state, but only one -- Bloomfield Industries -- has set up
headquarters in New York City itself.
From the
outside, its premises are an inconspicuous warehouse in an industrial zone of
Queens, with shabby walls, boarded up windows and an entrance partially
obstructed by concrete slabs.
Surrounded
by other warehouses, next to the highway and with no security guard nor police
officer in sight, the building is home to a 23,000 square meter plant dedicated
to growing marijuana.
The drug is
already grown legally in Denver, Colorado and San Francisco but this plant
appears to be the first set up in a major US city with a population of more than
one million.
Bloomfield's
rivals have set up production outlets in cheaper and more discreet locations in
the north of New York state.
But a
spokesperson said the company did not want to hide away.
"We
felt strongly that we could put our best team forward with the best
horticulturalists, the best scientists, the best pharmacists, the best
researchers that we could if we chose to put our facility where our
headquarters were, in New York City," he told AFP.
While the
New York state assembly passed the marijuana legislation 18 months ago,
Bloomfield and the other four firms did not officially obtain their licenses
until late July.
Since then
they have been working around the clock to get their products ready in time for
Thursday's launch.
Twenty
dispensaries will eventually open across the state, but the roll-out will be
gradual and patients were only allowed to start registering for treatment from
December 23.
Only
patients with serious illnesses such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, multiple
sclerosis or certain forms of epilepsy are eligible.
Nor will
they be able to buy cannabis to smoke, but rather take it in pill, oil or drop
form.
Positive
momentum
Nicholas
Vita, CEO of Columbia Care, another healthcare company registered to provide
medical marijuana, estimates that only 0.5 to 1.5 percent of the state
population -- 100,000 to 300,000 people -- will be eligible.
Doctor
Stephen Dahmer, chief medical officer for Vireo Health of New York, another
authorized laboratory, seeks to ease any concerns.
In
Minnesota, where Vireo also operates, he says marijuana consumption has been
much lower than expected.
None of the
three firms contacted by AFP would divulge the cost of treatment but it is
understood to start at around $200 a month per patient.
At the
moment no US health insurance company will pay for marijuana for medicinal
purposes, so its cost must be met privately.
Vita says
it offers help to patients of limited funds, but did not disclose precise
details of how that might work.
Twenty
years after cannabis was legalized for medicinal use in California, 23 states
and the capital Washington, DC have now followed suit.
According
to Dahmer, attitudes are slowly changing.
"There's
still a lot of taboo," he told AFP.
"I
think it's definitely shifting in the right direction. Completely shifted -- I
wouldn't say that much -- but there's definitely a positive momentum," he
added.
Marijuana
and its derivative products do not come under the control of the US Food and
Drug Administration and conclusive scientific studies are still up for debate.
"Many
of (the studies) surround addictions or negative consequences but we're starting
to see more studies related to the positive benefits," said Dahmer.
According
to a Harris Poll carried out last May, 81 percent of Americans favor legalizing
marijuana for medical use, up from 74 percent in 2011.
New York embarks on medical marijuana use Thursday, becoming the 23rd US state to do so https://t.co/UQrOQsqcdU pic.twitter.com/kJ7dVUG9Cm
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) January 6, 2016
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