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Sponsors
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History
- Referred to health
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to organizations registered to sell, deliver, distribute or dispense medical marihuana
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Richard Gottfried
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to organizations registered to sell, deliver, distribute or dispense medical marihuana
Purpose
To allow registered organizations to contract for facilities, equipment, or services; and repeal the requirement that registered organizations be vertically integrated.
Summary of provisions
Section 1: Amends subdivisions 4, 6, and 13 and adds new subdivisions 14 and 15 to section 3364 of Public Health Law. Allows a registered organization to contract with persons or entities.to provide facilities, equipment, or services related to the registered organization's functions or activities. All laws applicable to the registered organization shall apply to the contractor. Allows a registered organization to sell, deliver, distribute, or receive medical marihuana to or from another registered organization.
Section 2: Amends Subdivisions 1, 3, 8 and 9 of section 3365 of Public Health Law to remove references capping the number of registered organizations at five and dispensaries per organization at four.
Section 3: Effective date.
Justification
The Department of Health has authorized just five registered organizations (R0s), with four dispensaries each, to provide medical marihuana. Nor are the registered organizations allowed to contract out any part of the production and distribution processes. They must own every part of the operation from growing to dispensing, a system of mandatory vertical integration that the State would normally discourage. Almost every element of the manufacturing/retailing economy operates through companies that are not vertically integrated and includes contracting out segments of operations.
This places significant burdens on the RO business model. For example, ROs produce medical marihuana in one location and distributes it else-where to be dispensed, but cannot simply ship its product with a shipper (no matter how secure) like any other manufacturer. Instead, the RO must own the delivery trucks itself and directly employ the drivers. This bill allows the RO to contract out some of its functions while ensuring that all laws applicable to the RO apply to the contractors as well.
The bill removes both the limit on the numbers of ROs and dispensaries and the requirement that ROs be vertically integrated.
In order to allow non-integration, the bill allows a registered organization to sell, deliver, distribute, or receive medical marihuana to or from another registered organization. There are many strains of medical marihuana targeting different diseases and age groups. A patient in a rural area may be certified for a particular strain only to discover that no dispensary in the region carries it. Allowing ROs to sell, deliver, or distribute to, or receive medical marihuana from other ROs will help get critically important medicine to patients who would otherwise struggle with long-distance travel and geographic disparities.
This bill is a significant step towards expanding patient access by ensuring adequate supply and statewide availability of medical marihuana.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.