Dr. Kyle Kingsley, CEO of Empire State Health Solutions, a competitor for one of New York”™s five recently awarded licenses to produce and distribute medical marijuana, recently toured the county as part of a visit with business leaders, media outlets and Mayor Thomas Roach as his company prepares to open one of only two dispensaries in the county and likely the only one in White Plains.
- Dr. Kyle Kingsley, CEO of Empire State Health Solutions. Photo by Reece Alvarez
Kingsley, a staunch advocate for cannabis as medicine, is confident his company will present a medical model that will emblematic of a new chapter in the long story of medical marijuana in the U.S.
“I think the New York law is going to redefine how true medical marijuana cannabis is done internationally. I think this will become kind of a flagship program internationally in how it can be done in a very non-recreational way,” Kingsley said. “Cannabis enthusiasts ”” their time to shine is in the past, and this has now become the realm of scientist, physicians and operational professionals.”
As with all five of the license recipients, Empire is required to have non-smokable cannabis derived medications available for patients by Jan. 5, 2016, a deadline Kingsley is confident his company will meet with its production facility in the Tryon Technology park in Fulton County”™s Johnstown, which was under development months in advance of Empire receiving the state license.
“The only way to do it comfortably is to start before the award,” Kingsley said. “It is the most cost effective and also the only way to meet the timeline ”” starting a facility right now wouldn”™t work.”
The company will be an anchor tenant at a facility that could one day employee hundreds of local and regional residents as the company has phased plans which, by the arrival of the winter deadline, should include 40,000 square feet of production space, including the company”™s greenhouse.
The plan also includes an ambitious third phase Kingsley called, “the crown jewel” of the company”™s New York medical marijuana operation, a 200,000-square-foot research facility Kingsley said will be a center for scientific progress and research on cannabis as medicine surpassing any other currently operating.
The third phased expansion will be under consideration during the months and years following the company”™s start of business in the state and its completion will be dependent on how quickly patients and physicians adopt the medical marijuana model, Kingsley said.
Should phase three come to fruition, the total cost of Empire”™s investment in the New York Medical Marijuana program could come close to $30 million, Kingsley said.
Much of Kingsley”™s confidence in the direction and future of his company stems from his successful experience in Minnesota, where the company placed *first in the state”™s application process under the name Minnesota Medical Solutions.
In Minnesota only two licenses were awarded to a field of a dozen finalists, whereas in New York five licenses we’re available to a field of 43 applicants. The company placed second.
- One of Minnesota Medical Solutions’ medicinal marijuana dispensaries. The New York facilities are expected to be very similar in appearance, according to Kingsley. Photo courtesy of Empire State Health Solutions
Aside from the proven track record, Kingsley is excited about the new program as an emergency medicine physician, businessman and horticulture enthusiast.
He sees Empire and the state program as new evolution in medical marijuana away from what he called the loose regulations of the “wild west” of the medical marijuana industry in California and Colorado.
“This sounds terrible but, essentially, it”™s a bunch of stoners who are doing what they love, making a ton of money, helping a ton of people ”” so there is not really an impetus to change there,” he said.
But the change from medical recreation to actual medicine has to come from scientific and medical communities that will partner to advance the scientific understanding behind the drug, he said.
Kingsley”™s company plans to work with Nathan Littauer Hospital in Fulton County to further the scientific-medical partnership and advance medical marijuana research. He also hopes all five of the state”™s medical marijuana providers can partner to advance the understanding of the drug within health care systems.
“There will have to be some modifications for the regulations to facilitate this research,” he said. “There aren”™t a lot of folks with a lot of interest in working with cannabis as medicine.”
While there has been some criticism of the state”™s program and reports of financial and medical impediments to patient access, Kingsley said New York”™s program is the best he has seen to date, but that is not to say there is not room for improvement.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is one area not currently included under the state”™s list of medical conditions and symptoms for which patients are eligible for medical marijuana, and is of particular interest to Kingsley for further study as a veteran of the U.S. National Guard.
Empire also plans to develop New York CannaCare, a program that will take private and public donations to offset the cost for patients who can not afford medication, he said.
In terms of community pushback, while there have been reports of concerns from neighborhoods near the planned White Plains dispensary on 221-223 E. Post Road, Kingsley said he and his company have heard very little in terms of formal complaints and he encourages discussion with concerned individuals to clear the air of any misunderstandings.
“I see any opposition to this as a failure on our part on the outreach side,” he said. “Imagine kids with seizures coming in and having their lives changed by this simple, clean, safe medication they are getting ”” that is something to be proud of. You have people at the end of life, they have no option, they come into this amazing facility and as often as not it will be helpful, it is something to be proud of.
“From a moral standpoint the lives that we are changing ”” the patients we are helping ”” it is an undeniable good for a community.”
*Correction ”” A previous version of this article online and in print incorrectly stated Empire State Health Solutions placed second in the Minnesota medical marijuana license application process. The company placed first under the name of Minnesota Medical Solutions.
