Medical marijuana dispensary opening Friday in East Farmingdale
The Botanist, a medical marijuana dispensary, on March 6 on Broadhollow Road in East Farmingdale. Credit: Michael Owens
Long Island’s fourth medical marijuana dispensary is scheduled to open Friday in East Farmingdale.
Manhattan-based Acreage Holdings Inc. is opening the dispensary — called The Botanist — on Broadhollow Road near Costco, a Hooters restaurant, a UPS customer center and Farmingdale State College.
It is the company’s fourth location in New York State and the last it is licensed to operate in the state, said Harris Damashek, the company’s chief marketing officer. The other three are in Jamaica, Queens, Middletown and Buffalo.
Acreage operates 24 other dispensaries in 18 other states, he said.
Damashek said the company chose the East Farmingdale location because “we really felt Long Island in particular was an underserved market, and it was a great opportunity to provide access to the residents of Long Island.”
The only other Suffolk location, in Riverhead, has been open since January 2016, when medical cannabis dispensaries were first allowed in the state. In Nassau County, a dispensary opened in Lake Success in January 2016, and one in Carle Place launched in January 2019.
The newest dispensaries are part of a state-approved doubling of the number of medical dispensaries statewide from 20 to 40.
One more dispensary is slated each for Nassau and Suffolk counties, according to the New York State Department of Health. The companies planning to open them have not yet notified the state of the precise locations, the department said in a statement.
The Botanist in East Farmingdale will have staff who can advise patients about dosages and which product is best for their conditions, Damashek said. The dispensary also will have a pharmacist on staff, he said.
Patients must get certification from a doctor or medical practitioner registered with the state stating they might benefit from cannabis. Cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and chronic pain are among the conditions cannabis can be used to treat under state law.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had included the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana in the proposed 2019-20 state budget but withdrew the proposal March 19 because he couldn’t come to an agreement with legislators on the issue.
