Medical marijuana maker: Legalizing recreational use of marijuana in NY is a balancing act

Patti Singer | Democrat and Chronicle

Show Caption Hide Caption Medical marijuana questions answered D&C reporters Patti Singer and Sean Lahman answer questions about medical marijuana from our Facebook audience.

Any day, week or month now, the state Department of Health will tell New Yorkers why it’s recommending marijuana be legal for recreational use.

In mid-June, Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said the pros of marijuana outweigh the cons and said his department would release its report on the subject “soon.”

A Health Department spokeswoman this week referred to Zucker’s statement when she responded to a request to narrow down the time frame.

If the Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo agree with the Health Department’s findings, New York would join states such as Colorado, Nevada, California and Massachusetts that have legalized marijuana for recreational use.

Considering the strict controls on medical marijuana, it’s natural to think recreational use would be tightly regulated. Nicholas Vita is chief executive officer of Columbia Care, whose manufacturing facility at Eastman Business Park makes medicinal cannabis for all its New York dispensaries. Vita talked with the Democrat and Chronicle about how he thinks the state should handle legalization.

Should recreational rules be as tight as the medical ones?

Vita said New York needs to focus on the quality of the products and controlling access. He said the state needs to protect teens and others “that could end up being collateral damage in an unregulated, unsupervised environment. … It requires balance between enforcement, social justice, public policy, public health — all of those things deserve a voice. The biggest failure, if you look at other markets, is enforcement hasn’t been given an adequate role in the process.”

Are you being asked how you’d regulate recreational use?

“No, not yet. … I hope we have a voice.” He said that despite criticisms of the medical program, the program has operated with an integrity crucial to its success. He said recreational cannabis manufacturers have to show the same diligence.

“As long as you have responsible operators that are qualified, who are interested in supporting their communities and supporting the program — whatever the program may look like — I think you’ll end up a success. I think the risk is that once you begin to underregulate … you could end up with a free-for-all. That’s not good for anybody.”

Are you saying recreational marijuana would be a burden?

Medical Marijuana: How it's made Take a look inside Columbia Care which is manufacturing medical marijuana in Rochester at Eastman Business Park. (May 14, 2018)

“I wouldn’t describe it as a burden. I think there are additional responsibilities.” Vita said people often compare cannabis to alcohol, which is strictly regulated from manufacture to sale — including how old you can be to use it. It’s the same with tobacco. He acknowledged that both of those end up in the hands of teens.

Vita said that because of how cannabis products are made, he couldn’t be specific how the product should be regulated, but it had to be inaccessible to children. He said that in some states, the move to recreational use has been rough and polls show that residents who support recreational use are not pleased with how it’s being implemented.

“The question is, can we together come up with a smarter approach, a more effective approach to maintain the integrity of what it is we’re trying to do in a broad setting?”

Does Columbia Care want to make marijuana for recreational use?

Columbia Care has been expanding its manufacturing facility for medical products, and you'd think that recreational use could boost business overall. As of May, Columbia Care employed fewer than 200 people in New York. The number of workers in Rochester was not available.

Vita was vague about the company's plans for recreational marijuana.

He said some politicians don’t want the medical manufacturers involved. “I think that would be a mistake and a shame.” He said the manufacturers in New York produce high-quality products — experience that can be valuable in the recreational market. “How or whether or not we participate is a function of time and regulation. … Ultimately, we need to play to our strengths.”

How would recreational use affect the drug as medicine?

Even though New York has expanded the diagnoses that qualify for medical marijuana, it still is a limited list. Because of that, Vita said many people use cannabis on their own and self-medicate.

“There are people that simply can’t fall asleep at night or have an eating disorder or have anxiety,” he said. Because they don’t qualify for medical marijuana in New York, they could be considered recreational users.

Vita called that a shame. “My suspicion and my hope is, as we begin thinking about the expansion of regulations and expansion of access, it’s done so in a way that embraces people who are using cannabis as a form of chronic relief, as a form of palliative relief, as a form of improvement of quality of life.”

Legal recreational use also would give those individuals an option subject to quality control, unlike street products they may currently be buying.

“There’s no reason why anybody in the world should have to buy something where there hasn’t been validation,” he said. “That is a shame and it’s inappropriate.”

PSINGER@Gannett.com

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