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New York’s medical market is on the verge of expanding into the adult-use market, and many are rightfully concerned that their deep corporate pockets will have an unfair competitive advantage over bootstrapping entrepreneurs with less access to capital.
This article is based on my interview with Nikki Lawley, a New Yorker, former nurse, brain trauma injury victim, and well-known advocate for medical marijuana. She shares valuable insights into the importance of NY’s medical market and how we all need to work together to build a cohesive cannabis industry.
The Medical Program Paved The Way
There’s so much noise surrounding the turmoil in the adult-use rollout that many fail to recognize the medical market has been paving the way for the cannabis industry in New York since 2018. NY regulators set the laws that medical dispensaries must follow, and advocates like Nikki Lawley have been fighting to make needed changes that will serve the patients who use cannabis as a medicine. For example, medical patient advocates produced positive results by amending the law to allow the sale of whole flower, pre rolls, and homegrown.
“I don’t feel the effects of edibles the way most people do because of digestive issues and rely on flower to smoke. And I can’t roll a joint to save my life, so being able to purchase pre-rolls in the medical setting is huge for me.” – Nikki Lawley, Cannabis Medical Advocate.
Many new users say the biggest benefit to a medical store is access to a pharmacist on staff who can guide you on choosing the right product for your needs and alert you to the possibility of drug-to-drug interactions.
“Having a pharmacist onsite is a big expense for the medical stores, but it’s an important part of growing the industry by educating and guiding the new consumer in a safe and trusted environment.” – Nikki Lawley.
The adult use program will bring value from its legacy growers who take pride in innovating craft cannabis and impressive terpene profiles. However, on the medical side, cultivators tend to keep the same strain around for longer because they’ve invested so much money in their genetics and growing a consistent product. Patients need a consistent medicine that is affordable.
“There are ways to bridge the gap with adult use and improve our medical market. For example, medical patients should have tax incentives to shop at adult use stores to build community between the dispensaries.” – Nikki Lawley.
The Elderly’s Barrier To Plant Medicine
Elderly people are a rapidly growing demographic eager to know more about the benefits of cannabis but are skeptical of the new science and intimidated to shop in a dispensary. They don’t understand all the new consumption methods and the apparatus that goes with it, and they lack the most basic understanding of the industry.
Medical dispensaries play an important part in providing a trusted and educational experience for this age group to learn about its benefits and product options as opposed to an adult-use dispensary setting with a more cultural vibe that tends to attract the cannabis connoisseur.
Organizations like Elevating and Educating with Cannabis (EEWC) in New York arrange senior group outings to medical dispensaries to talk to them about the different products, packaging, color coding systems, and how things work.
“Using medical dispensaries to educate the elderly through hands-on immersion learning will create lifelong consumers and grow the industry. And once they understand the plant’s benefits, they won’t want to take a pill every day. ” -Nikki Lawley.
Patients With Medical Conditions Require Higher Safety Standards
There is an Aspergillus problem plaguing many cultivators across the country, and some states like NY are leaving it to the farmers to determine how much is too much and dangerous to human health.
In the NY medical market, there is a plus or minus error of 5 percent when testing for contaminants, whereas adult use has a 25 percent range. While the medical dispensaries have the advantage of growing indoors, the adult-use market is mandated to outdoor cultivation by state law, exposing them to a higher risk of contaminated plants.
Syracuse.com conducted secret lab tests of products currently being sold in NY dispensaries and reported some products tested 250 times the medical limit for yeast, mold, and noncompliant pesticide-tested products.
“It’s a sticky situation and another reason to shop medical because there is nearly zero tolerance for Aspergillus in medical marijuana according to NY law, and this is crucial for those with compromised immune systems.” -Nikki Lawley.
The Risk Of Losing Medical Dispensaries
Eleven medical dispensaries currently operating in New York have the green light to open adult-use stores by the end of this year as long as they pony up a 5 million down payment and maintain four operational medical stores -at the moment, not all stores meet the criteria.
The medical operators may have deep corporate pockets, but the cost to operate has them in the red, and some are worried it isn’t worth the investment, and they may walk away. In addition, New York only boasts about 120,000 registered medical marijuana patients in a state of 20 million. These numbers also point to slim or no profit margins for medical dispensaries. Does the medical market need adult-use stores in their portfolio to balance the costs of maintaining a medical dispensary?
“I was part of the thinking that MSOs are the enemy, but at the end of the day, they’re the ones giving me my medicine, and we need them to serve the medical community properly.” -Nikki Lawley.
All New Yorkers Should Have A Seat At The Table
An Advisory Board was created so New Yorkers get a seat at the table and a voice in shaping cannabis laws. But according to a recent article in Syracuse.com, New York’s Cannabis Advisory Board Chair, Joseph Bullock, claims the board hasn’t been as involved with the state’s legal weed rollout as the cannabis law prescribes and the Office of Cannabis Management has yet to reach out to him or other members, and noted that the Cannabis Control Board recently passed a slate of regulations without consulting or seeking advice from the advisory board.
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