A company headquartered in Purchase is among 43 businesses vying for five licenses to be the first producers and sellers of non-smokable forms of medicinal marijuana in New York.
The state Health Department, which is overseeing the state”™s medical marijuana program, will winnow the applications down to five winners in July.
Applicants, required to submit 10 copies of their voluminous documents, hauled cart-loads and vans full of paperwork to meet the state”™s June 5 filing deadline.
- An artist”™s rendering of Valley Agriceuticals”™ proposed marijuana growing facility in Wallkill.
Companies were required to submit $210,000 in application fees, of which $200,000 is refundable if the organization is not approved for a license.
Applicants must prove that they will be able to provide highly technical quality control measures, strict security systems, proof of access to or ownership of adequate property for the business or a $2 million bond. Among other considerations, state officials will weigh the “moral character and competence of board members, officers, managers, owners, partners, principal stakeholders, directors and members of the applicant”™s organization.”
Erik Holling, president of Valley Agriceuticals LLC, a license applicant based at 2500 Westchester Ave. in Purchase, said his company would prefer that New York set even stricter regulations. “Without strict regulations, then companies that might not have the right medical focus will taint the industry for the rest of us who are doing this for the right reasons,” he told Crain”™s New York Business.
Holling”™s company touted its experience, credentials and infrastructure to differentiate it from the heap of applicants.
The company has already secured a 70-acre property in Wallkill in Orange County and has received town officials”™ approval to use 10 of the acres to build a medical marijuana growing facility.
The company was scheduled to break ground on the site on June 11, despite having yet to be awarded one of the five licenses.
“Yes, it”™s a risk but we believe it”™s a risk worth taking,” Holling told the Business Journal. “We understand from our extensive experience growing, cultivating and producing pharmaceutical grade medical cannabis in other states and countries exactly how much time it takes to have outstanding medicines ready for patients. This is especially true as the state”™s deadline to be ready to serve patients is January 2016.” Holling”™s cannabis company has operated in California and Israel.
If the company is not awarded a license, Holling said it is unclear what use the building will be put to. “However, the structure we”™re building will be consistent with the community”™s rural nature so if we”™re not awarded a license, the building will fit in.”
Valley Agriceuticals plans to erect a 40,000-square-foot barn and 60,000 square feet of greenhouse space. The company in its agreement with the town of Wallkill said the building will conform to the area”™s character and guaranteed that the facility would never be used for recreational marijuana regardless of any future change in laws.
If the company is granted a license to produce and distribute marijuana, four possible dispensary sites could be developed, including an initial site in Harrison, Holling said. Other dispensary sites could be in Albany, Rochester and Manhattan, he said.
Both New York”™s allowance of producer-owned dispensaries and the form in which marijuana can be consumed by patients in the state differ from Connecticut. Connecticut has had a medical marijuana law on the books since 2012 and does not permit growers to also run dispensaries, yet it does permit the smoking of the plant”™s flower, which New York prohibits.
“Correctly, and in keeping with New York”™s longstanding commitment to eliminate all smoking, we chose to ban the smoking of marijuana and instead limit its delivery to alternative methods including vaporization, oils, pills, and other consumables. The medical literature demonstrates that the use of vaporization can deliver marijuana safely and effectively without the known dangers associated with smoking,” according to the Health Department website.
Holling would not disclose how much money Valley Agriceuticals, which is backed by private investors, has invested in its Wallkill facility, only that it has “raised enough private capital to last us for the first five years, using conservative patient counts.”
“Extensive experience in Israel, California and Colorado has led us to determine very precise financial projections and planning,” he said.
Valley Agriceuticals has assembled a leadership team experienced in the medical marijuana and security industries. Founding member Eileen Konieczny is a registered nurse and president-elect of the American Cannabis Nurses Association, and played an integral role in the passage of medical cannabis legislation in Connecticut and New York, according to the company”™s website.
She is joined by Shay Avraham Sarid, the founder of Seach, one of the oldest and largest medical cannabis farms in Israel.
On the security front, the company brought in John Cutter, a 25-year veteran of the New York City Police Department and deputy chief in its criminal intelligence section, where he was responsible for all counter-terrorism initiatives.
It is not only money, security and facilities a company needs in order to meet the state”™s criteria, but being in the community”™s interest in which they are located is also a factor.
Holling said Valley Agriceuticals currently operates with a small staff but envisions a total staff of 250 employees when fully up and running. The company expects to hire 100 to 150 workers at its Wallkill facility.
“We are looking to hire locally for the majority of the jobs, with living wage,” he said.
