MURRAY HILL — A medical marijuana dispensary is coming to East 37th Street, according to filings published last week by the state.
Bloomfield Industries, one of five companies to receive a state license to grow and sell medical cannabis, has leased a space for a dispensary at 345 E. 37th St., a large condominium complex that includes the offices of other medical practices. The company chose the location in part because of access to nearby hospitals, according to a Bloomfield Executive.
“We tried to locate in close proximity to hospitals, because it is nice for patients to be able to see their doctor and not have to go back out again,” said Colette Bellefleur, the chief operating officer of Bloomfield.
The dispensary will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. through 1 p.m. on Saturday, according to Health Department records first reported by the Daily News.
New York passed a law legalizing medical marijuana in 2014, but it is one of the most restrictive in the country, limiting products to capsules or extracts, prompting Bloomfield, which is based in Staten Island, to develop cannabis extracts that can be delivered via oral spray, vape-able oil, gel capsule or dissolvable oral strips.
That means customers at the Murray Hill dispensary will not be buying them in buds like they might from an illegal dealer, and will not be toking up on the blocks surrounding the pharmacy, the company said.
The new dispensary will be good news for Manhattanites who suffer from one of the 10 medical conditions covered by the new program — including cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis — but many suffering from ailments like PTSD and Alzheimers will be left out by the restrictive limitations placed on the program, according to Julie Netherland, a patient advocate.
“For those people who qualify this is very good news and a really important step forward,” said Netherland, of Compassionate Care NY. “Unfortunately the program is quite narrow, so thousands and thousands of folks are not going to be able to get access.”
The state announced in July that it had selected Bloomfield and four other companies to receive licenses, including Columbia Care, LLC, which plans to open on 14th Street next year.
The state hopes to have the new dispensaries and grow operations up and running by January, and Bloomfield expects to meet that goal, according to Bellefleur.
“We are on track and we’re feeling good,” she said.
