Medical marijuana license decision announced

ALBANY -- The New York State Department of Health announced Friday which five companies will receive a license to manufacturer and dispense medical marijuana. Three of the five companies chosen will have facilities in the Capital Region area. Empire State Health Solutions will manufacture at a facility in Fulton County at the former Tryon School for Boys. It will operate facilities in Broome, Albany, Westchester and Queens Counties. The company said the Albany County dispensary will be located on Wolf Road in Colonie. Etain, LLC will have its manufacturing facility in Warren County, in Chestertown. It will have dispensaries in Albany, Ulster, Westchester and Onondaga Counties. The Albany County dispensary will be on North Pearl Street in Albany. PharmaCann LLC will manufacture out of a facility in Orange County. It will have dispensaries in Erie, Onondaga, Albany and Bronx Counties. The company said the Albany County Dispensary will be on Executive Park Drive in Albany. The company is currently operating in Illinois. "Folks in this type of program are going to get a specifically formulated pharmaceutical product, so they are going to know exactly what they are getting," said Dr. Kyle Kingsley, the CEO of Empire State Health Solutions. He is also the CEO of a sister company in Minnesota that's already up and running, dispensing medical marijuana there. He said his team is learning much, from the Minnesota experience. "We have a great feeling of how it's going to be in New York and we are gearing our system to that. The seizure patients are going to be a lot of the first patients, probably 50% or more of the initial patients and that will slowly escalate with time," he told CBS6 News a few weeks ago. Etain, LLC's COO told CBS6 News over the phone that Etain is a woman and family owned business with roots up north. "A large focus of our application and our business plan was creating jobs and economic opportunity particularly in the Adirondack Park," said Hillary Peckham, Etain LLC's COO. She said the company will retrofit a former horse barn. Peckham also said the company will start growing within the next six weeks. A quick start was part of the business plan. "It was to make sure that we can be operational and have products on shelves within the six month timeline that the state has set. We have our building permits, we are ready to go," said Peckham. "This is all about cultivation to start, so we are ready to go there there's going to be a large cultivation focus, and then there's going to be a switch to the science, extraction, formulation end of things," said Dr. Kingsley. The State also said that Bloomfield Industries Inc. will have a manufacturing facility in Queens County and dispensing facilities in Nassau, New York, Onondaga and Erie Counties. Columbia Care NY LLC will have a manufacturing facility in Monroe County and dispensaries New York, Suffolk, Clinton and Monroe Counties.