NEW YORK: First Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Open

The first eight of 20 planned medical marijuana dispensaries open today in New York state, but unlike in most states, you won’t see actual buds available. CBS New reports:

Vireo Health of New York in White Plains is one of the dispensaries opening Thursday, about 18 months after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a medical marijuana bill into law. New York has some of the strictest rules among the more than 20 states that allow medical pot.

It is the only state besides Minnesota to limit medical marijuana to non-smokeable extracts delivered in forms such as capsules, vaporizers and liquids taken orally, and it’s one of few states with a physician training requirement.

“No joints, no cookies, no brownies — nothing of that sort,” said Ari Hoffnung of Vireo Health of New York. New York limited its program to 20 dispensaries and a short list of qualified conditions such as cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and some spinal cord injuries, among others.

The first dispensary in Manhattan is in the East Village.