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As New York prepares the launch of its adult-use marijuana market, the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) announced on Monday a significant expansion of the existing medical cannabis program.<\/p>\n
Now doctors will be able to issue medical marijuana recommendations to people for any condition that they feel could be treated by cannabis, rather than rely on a list of specific eligible maladies. Physicians were granted that discretion through the state\u2019s recreational marijuana law that was enacted last year.<\/p>\n
The expansion is being made possible as part of OCM\u2019s new Medical Cannabis Program certification and registration system.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is terrific to see the Medical Cannabis Program expand so vastly with the launch of the new certification and registration program and the ability of practitioners to determine qualifying conditions as included in the MRTA,\u201d Cannabis Control Board (CCB) Chair Tremaine Wright said in a press release.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new cannabis industry is taking shape as we continue to implement the MRTA and provide greater access for New Yorkers to a medicine that we\u2019re learning more about every day,\u201d Wright said<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re continuing to move forward swiftly and today\u2019s system launch follows our achievements that already include adding whole flower medical product sales, permanently waiving $50 patient fees, and advancing home cultivation regulations, among others.\u201d<\/p>\n Medical practitioners can now certify a patient for any condition that the practitioner believes can be treated with medical cannabis, as intended by the MRTA.<\/p>\n \u2014 NYS Office of Cannabis Management (@nys_cannabis) January 24, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Lat last year, CCB voted unanimously to advance a policy change to allow medical cannabis patients in the state to grow plants for personal use<\/a>, another change made possible by the broad legalization law that was enacted.<\/p>\n In November, regulators also\u00a0approved rules for the state\u2019s cannabinoid hemp program<\/a>, notably clarifying that flower from the crop can be sold but delta-8 THC products are currently prohibited from being marketed.<\/p>\n \u201cLaunching the new patient certification and registration system and expanding eligibility for the Medical Cannabis Program are significant steps forward for our program,\u201d OCM Executive Director Chris Alexander said. \u201cWe will continue to implement the MRTA and ensure that all New Yorkers who can benefit from medical cannabis have the access they need to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important for New Yorkers to know that even as we shift the medical program to the OCM, your access will not be disrupted and the program will continue to expand,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n While marijuana retailers have yet to launch in New York, the legalization law signed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) already permits adults 21 and older to possess and publicly consume cannabis<\/a>. Meanwhile, lawmakers in the state have been working to build upon the reform.<\/p>\n For example, a New York senator filed a bill last month to make it so that gay, lesbian and bisexual people can\u00a0qualify as social equity applicants<\/a>\u00a0under the state\u2019s marijuana law.<\/p>\n Sen. Jeremy Cooney (D) introduced the legislation, shortly after filing a separate bill to\u00a0include transgender and non-binary people<\/a>\u00a0in the cannabis social equity program. He\u2019s also behind other recent marijuana reform proposals related to cannabis business tax benefits and licensing.<\/p>\n \u2014 In July, Cooney filed a bill to\u00a0create a provisional marijuana licensing category<\/a>\u00a0so that farmers could begin cultivating and selling cannabis ahead of the formal rollout of the adult-use program.<\/p>\n Cooney is also sponsoring a newly filed bill to allow licensed cannabis companies to\u00a0deduct certain business expenses<\/a>\u00a0on their state tax returns.<\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who replaced Cuomo after he resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal, has repeatedly emphasized her interest in efficiently implementing the legalization law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hochul released a State of the State book earlier this month that called for the creation of a $200 million public-private fund<\/a>\u00a0to specifically help promote social equity in the state\u2019s burgeoning marijuana market.<\/p>\n The governor said that while cannabis business licenses have yet to be approved since legalization was signed into law last year, the market stands to generate billions of dollars, and it\u2019s important to \u201ccreate opportunities for all New Yorkers, particularly those from historically marginalized communities.\u201d<\/p>\n That proposal was\u00a0also cited in Hochul\u2019s executive budget<\/a>, which was released last week. The budget also estimated that New York stands to generate more than $1.25 billion in marijuana tax revenue over the next six years.<\/p>\n The state Department of Labor separately announced in recent guidance that New York employers are no longer allowed to\u00a0drug test most workers for marijuana<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a New York lawmaker introduced a bill in June that would require the state to establish an institute to\u00a0research the therapeutic potential of psychedelics<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another state legislator filed legislation last month to\u00a0legalize psilocybin mushrooms for medical purposes<\/a>\u00a0and establish facilities where the psychedelic could be grown and administered to patients.<\/p>\n Colorado Meets Marijuana Industry Diversity Goal Ahead Of Schedule<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post New York Doctors Can Now Recommend Medical Marijuana To Patients For Any Condition They See Fit<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
As New York prepares the launch of its adult-use marijuana market, the state Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) announced on Monday a significant expansion of the existing medical cannabis program. Now doctors will be able to issue medical marijuana recommendations to people for any condition that they feel could beContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":52481,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52482,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52480\/revisions\/52482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: New York Doctors Can Now Recommend Medical Marijuana To Patients For Any Condition They See Fit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"