Joseph Spector

Albany Bureau Chief

ALBANY -- Five companies were authorized Tuesday to manufacture and dispense medical marijuana in New York, giving the state 10 companies that can provide the drug to patients who have specific conditions.

The move by the state Health Department was long expected as the agency tries to expand the program amid criticism that it is too restrictive.

The five companies will manufacture medical marijuana across upstate New York and add 20 dispensaries, including in areas that do not currently have stores that can sell it.

The state "is committed to growing the state’s Medical Marijuana Program responsibly,” Howard Zucker, the state's health commissioner, said in a statement.

“The addition of these registered organizations will make it easier for patients across the state to obtain medical marijuana, improve the affordability of medical marijuana products through the introduction of new competition, and increase the variety of medical marijuana products available to patients.”

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A year ago, the Health Department first recommended it double the number of medical marijuana growers as a way to reach more patients. The existing companies are currently suing over the proposed expansion, saying they have struggled themselves to stay afloat in New York.

The state has rejected the complaints and is now moving forward with the expansion.

The five companies to get the licenses are: Citiva Medical; Fiorello Pharmaceuticals; New York Canna; PalliaTech NY and Valley Agriceuticals.

They were the second five on the list after the state picked five companies to launch the program in January 2016: MedMen, formerly known as Bloomfield Industries; Columbia Care; Etain; PharmaCann; and Vireo Health of New York.

The original five companies were reauthorized to continue to operate in New York for two years.

New York has 25,736 certified patients and 1,139 registered practitioners participating in the program, with the number of certified patients growing 72 percent since March when chronic pain was added to the list of conditions eligible for medical marijuana, the Health Department said.

Under New York's program, only non-smokeable forms of the drug are permitted.

Currently, the five manufacturing facilities are in Queens; Monroe County; Fulton County near Amsterdam; Warren County in the North Country; and Orange County in the Hudson Valley.

Dispensing sites include locations in Yonkers and White Plains in Westchester County, Rochester and Johnson City near Binghamton.

Citiva Medical, based in Manhattan, will manufacture in Orange County and have dispensing facilities in Dutchess and Chemung counties, as well as in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Fiorello Pharmaceuticals, also based in Manhattan, will manufacture in Schenectady County and have dispensing facilities in Monroe, Saratoga and Nassau counties, as well as in Manhattan.

New York Canna will grow the medical marijuana in Onondaga County and have dispensing facilities in Erie, Orange, Queens and Suffolk counties.

PalliaTech NY, based in Wakefield, Mass., will manufacture in Ulster County and have dispensing facilities in Nassau, Orange, Queens, and Clinton counties.

Valley Agriceuticals, located in Purchase, Westchester County, will manufacture in Orange County and have dispensing facilities in Oneida, Suffolk, and Dutchess counties, as well as Brooklyn.

The Health Department has sought to expand the program by adding to those who can prescribe it and the type of patients that can get the drug.

For example, the state has permitted home delivery, let nurse practitioners and physician assistants certify patients and published a list of registered practitioners who let the state public their names to prescribe medical marijuana.