NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9747A
SPONSOR: Gottfried TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
medical marihuana dispensing sites
PURPOSE:
To require the Department of Health to register at least five more
registered organizations ("ROs") to provide medical marijuana in under-
served areas of the state: allow each RO to operate up to four addi-
tional dispensaries, for a total of up to eight each; allow ROs to
directly contact practitioners for the purposes of education and provid-
ing information about the medical use of marihuana; and allow ROs to
produce or dispense additional products particularly formulated for
treatment of intractable epilepsy notwithstanding any regulatory limits
on the number of allowable products per RO.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 9 of § 3365 of the Public
Health Law to allow each registered organization to operate up to four
more dispensaries, for a total of up to eight each.
Amends subdivision 9 of § 3365 of the Public Health Law by adding a new
paragraph (b) to require that the Department of Health register at least
five additional registered organizations to manufacture and dispense
medical marijuana by January 1, 2017. The Commissioner shall seek to
provide the dispensaries operated by the new registered organizations in
underserved areas of the state. In addition, the Commissioner is
directed to consider and give appropriate weight to the applicants
involved in the initial review process.
Section 2: Amends subdivision 13 of section 3364 of the public health
law to allow registered organizations to directly contact medical prac-
titioners for the purposes of education and providing information about
the medical use of marihuana.
Section 3: Amends section 3364 of the public health law by adding a new
subdivision 14 allowing ROs to produce or dispense additional products
particularly formulated for treatment of intractable epilepsy notwith-
standing any regulatory limits on the number of allowable products per
RO.
JUSTIFICATION:
The Department of Health has authorized only five registered organiza-
tions, with four dispensaries each, to provide medical marijuana. As a
result, 20 medical marijuana dispensaries are available to serve the
needs of 19,750,000 New Yorkers. Those 20 dispensaries are located in
only 13 counties, meaning that 49 counties - with a cumulative popu-
lation of over 7.5 million people have none.
Statewide, there are 978,500 New Yorkers for every medical marijuana
dispensary. By comparison, New York has 5,398 pharmacies, or one for
every 3,625 New Yorkers. The 22 other states with medical marijuana laws
have an average of one dispensary per 210,000 people.
By any standard, New York's medical marijuana delivery system is woeful-
ly inadequate and far out of step with practices across the nation.
This bill would begin to address the patient access problems in New York
by requiring the Department of Health to authorize at least five more
registered organizations by January of 2017 and authorize registered
organizations to operate up to eight rather than up to four dispensaries
each.
This bill would also allow registered organizations to directly contact
practitioners for the purpose of providing information to them about
medical marihuana, educating them about the program and the science
behind the medical use of cannabis.
Finally, regulations implemented by the Department limit each RO to
produce and dispense a maximum of five products (referred to in regu-
lation as "brands"). As a result, ROs are not likely to offer products
targeting smaller numbers of patients. This bill allows an exception for
products to treat intractable epilepsy, an extremely severe medical
condition affecting children, that may not represent a significant
portion of the market.
Together, these reforms would enhance patient access to both registered
providers and dispensers in numerous underserved areas of the state.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Establishing additional registered organizations would generate tax
revenue for the state and the localities they are located in.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
