New York Eases Access to Medical Marijuana

February 11, 2022 09:35:00

Earlier this year, the state of New York gave permission to physicians to prescribe medical marijuana for a myriad of conditions. These changes represent a huge shift in the state’s medical cannabis program, which was at one point among the most restrictive in the country.

The state is focused on establishing its legal recreational marijuana market, with its Office of Cannabis Management allowing dispensaries to begin selling whole cannabis buds for smoking, expanding ranks of providers and proposing rules for patients who would like to cultivate their own cannabis.

Many expect the state’s soon-to-be established adult-use marijuana market to become one of the biggest legal markets for recreational marijuana in the United States. The state legalized the use and possession of cannabis in March 2021. Its cannabis office is currently focused on establishing regulations to govern the legal sale of the herb.

Dr. Stacia Woodcock, a pharmacist who manages a cannabis dispensary in the state, stated that boosting access to medical cannabis would allow more individuals dealing with problems such as stress and sleeplessness to access marijuana now, without having to wait for adult-use.

Chris Alexander, the executive director of the cannabis office, stated that the change was a big improvement and addition to the state’s medical cannabis program. The state of New York legalized the use of medical cannabis six years ago, when only about 20 states had legalized it. Currently, 37 states allow medical use of the herb.

However, unlike most states, New York requires that physicians acquire special training before being allowed to prescribe the drug to patients, and dispensaries are required to have pharmacists onsite. Originally, dispensaries could only provide cannabis extracts in liquids and pills, instead of flower, which is the most popular choice. Additionally, only 10 illnesses qualified to receive medical marijuana.

Over the years, however, the rules have eased, which has allowed more products, practitioners, dispensaries and qualifying conditions to be included. Currently, the state has 3,400 providers and more than 123,000 patients signed up. Conditions that were excluded until recently include insomnia and anxiety, which are a common reason for individuals to seek medical cannabis and which are approved in various states.

Scientific evidence shows that cannabis or its ingredients can provide relief for chronic pain, multiple sclerosis symptoms and chemotherapy-induced nausea. Additionally, a number of prescription medications use marijuana chemicals or synthetic versions of the same to treat weight loss and some forms of epilepsy, as well as nausea in cancer or AIDS patients. Many companies, including Mydecine Innovations Group Inc. (NEO: MYCO) (OTC: MYCOF) have noted the therapeutic potential of marijuana, psychedelics and other plant medicines, and they are working to come up with therapeutic formulations from those substances.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Mydecine Innovations Group Inc. (NEO: MYCO) (OTC: MYCOF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/MYCOF

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