Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
The problems with New York's medical marijuana program are well documented.
From the day the Compassionate Care Act was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, patient advocates knew that the law – a compromise born of a nearly 20 year struggle – was seriously flawed.
Those flaws are numerous, and they all work against patients: a very limited number of eligible conditions, restricting patient certification only to physicians, severely restricting the number of producers and dispensaries, limiting to five the number of products a company could sell, and prohibiting forms of the medicine that have proved popular and effective in other states.
Patients knew this wasn't going to work, and we were right.
Ever since the program started patient advocates have lobbied the Legislature, the governor, and the Department of Health to fix this broken system. Our allies in the Legislature introduced bills to fix the problems. But patient advocates and those legislators were told to wait: the program was "too new" to make changes and we needed to be patient.
Thankfully, after months of inaction, the Department of Health finally issued a report on the medical marijuana program that confirmed many (but not all) of the problems we identified. To their credit, they have moved forward to implement them.
Among a list of sensible improvements, they allowed physician assistants and nurse practitioners to certify patients, lifted the restriction on how many products a company can produce, allowed home delivery, and added chronic pain to the list of eligible conditions.
One of the most important recommendations is a plan in the coming year to license five more organizations. And in so doing, add 20 additional dispensaries across the state.
When you consider that New York's law only authorized 20 dispensaries to serve 19.8 million people – one for every 990,000 New Yorkers – this is a very reasonable proposal.
Even with this proposed expansion, New York is still vastly underserved compared to other states.
For example, Maryland – with a state population half a million less than that of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan – just authorized, as a first step, 102 dispensaries to serve their 5.9 million residents.
To serve the 6.4 million New Yorkers living in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, the Department of Health licensed just three dispensaries – and only two of them are open.
While patient advocates applaud the Department's very modest expansion of producers and dispensaries, the existing licensed providers have begun a public campaign against it.
While their objection is not surprising from a business perspective – after all, what company granted a state-authorized monopoly would encourage allowing more competitors into the market – it is essential that the governor and the Department of Health resist their self-interested rationale.
Experience around the country – and basic economic principles – teaches us that competition is the consumer's (and patient's) best friend. It enhances the variety and quality of products available, makes accessing them easier, and drives down prices as competitors compete for market share.
Expanding providers in New York's medical marijuana market would be a huge benefit to patients. And that is the sole purpose of this program: to provide compassion and relief to sick and suffering patients.
Currently patients are driving hours to get to the closest dispensary location, or illegally buying medicine in another state because New York's companies don't produce what they need. Adding insult to injury, prices here are higher than anywhere else in the country. New York's medical marijuana market is sorely in need of expansion.
New Yorkers want our medical marijuana program to be the best in the country. We want all the medical marijuana producers to succeed by making quality products, being accessible to patients, and charging a fair price. Patients won't be served unless these companies succeed.
But a market controlled by a chosen few doesn't serve patients.
A license to produce medical marijuana isn't a right; it's a privilege.
Medical marijuana patients from across the state applaud the Department of Health and Governor Cuomo for finally responding to our pleas for help. They now need to move quickly, without delay, to bring more competition to New York's medical marijuana marketplace.
Only then will patients in New York finally have access to the safe, quality, and affordable medicine they need.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Make Medical Marijuana Accessible To Patients, Advocate Says
Author: Kate Hintz
Contact: 914-694-9300
Photo Credit: John Agar
Website: The Journal News
From the day the Compassionate Care Act was signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, patient advocates knew that the law – a compromise born of a nearly 20 year struggle – was seriously flawed.
Those flaws are numerous, and they all work against patients: a very limited number of eligible conditions, restricting patient certification only to physicians, severely restricting the number of producers and dispensaries, limiting to five the number of products a company could sell, and prohibiting forms of the medicine that have proved popular and effective in other states.
Patients knew this wasn't going to work, and we were right.
Ever since the program started patient advocates have lobbied the Legislature, the governor, and the Department of Health to fix this broken system. Our allies in the Legislature introduced bills to fix the problems. But patient advocates and those legislators were told to wait: the program was "too new" to make changes and we needed to be patient.
Thankfully, after months of inaction, the Department of Health finally issued a report on the medical marijuana program that confirmed many (but not all) of the problems we identified. To their credit, they have moved forward to implement them.
Among a list of sensible improvements, they allowed physician assistants and nurse practitioners to certify patients, lifted the restriction on how many products a company can produce, allowed home delivery, and added chronic pain to the list of eligible conditions.
One of the most important recommendations is a plan in the coming year to license five more organizations. And in so doing, add 20 additional dispensaries across the state.
When you consider that New York's law only authorized 20 dispensaries to serve 19.8 million people – one for every 990,000 New Yorkers – this is a very reasonable proposal.
Even with this proposed expansion, New York is still vastly underserved compared to other states.
For example, Maryland – with a state population half a million less than that of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan – just authorized, as a first step, 102 dispensaries to serve their 5.9 million residents.
To serve the 6.4 million New Yorkers living in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, the Department of Health licensed just three dispensaries – and only two of them are open.
While patient advocates applaud the Department's very modest expansion of producers and dispensaries, the existing licensed providers have begun a public campaign against it.
While their objection is not surprising from a business perspective – after all, what company granted a state-authorized monopoly would encourage allowing more competitors into the market – it is essential that the governor and the Department of Health resist their self-interested rationale.
Experience around the country – and basic economic principles – teaches us that competition is the consumer's (and patient's) best friend. It enhances the variety and quality of products available, makes accessing them easier, and drives down prices as competitors compete for market share.
Expanding providers in New York's medical marijuana market would be a huge benefit to patients. And that is the sole purpose of this program: to provide compassion and relief to sick and suffering patients.
Currently patients are driving hours to get to the closest dispensary location, or illegally buying medicine in another state because New York's companies don't produce what they need. Adding insult to injury, prices here are higher than anywhere else in the country. New York's medical marijuana market is sorely in need of expansion.
New Yorkers want our medical marijuana program to be the best in the country. We want all the medical marijuana producers to succeed by making quality products, being accessible to patients, and charging a fair price. Patients won't be served unless these companies succeed.
But a market controlled by a chosen few doesn't serve patients.
A license to produce medical marijuana isn't a right; it's a privilege.
Medical marijuana patients from across the state applaud the Department of Health and Governor Cuomo for finally responding to our pleas for help. They now need to move quickly, without delay, to bring more competition to New York's medical marijuana marketplace.
Only then will patients in New York finally have access to the safe, quality, and affordable medicine they need.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Make Medical Marijuana Accessible To Patients, Advocate Says
Author: Kate Hintz
Contact: 914-694-9300
Photo Credit: John Agar
Website: The Journal News
