A new pill is on the market in New York state: a medicinal marijuana pill. Manufacturer and distributor Columbia Care, which has a location in Rochester, says they are the first in the country to put this kind of pill on the market.
Instead of using a chemically synthesized product, Columbia Care CEO Nicholas Vita says, the pills contain a natural botanical extract from cannabis plants grown in Rochester.
In New York state the Department of Health prohibits smoking medical marijuana but allows for oils and tinctures that can be used with a vaporizer or inhaler, and now, a capsule.
“With a pill, because you’re ingesting it, it’s going through your GI tract. We expect it to have a longer onset of action but also a longer duration, which may in fact mean patients have to take less in order to maintain the same level of symptom relief ,” says Vita.
The same protocol for getting other forms of medical marijuana applies to the pills. The Department of Health is currently considering whether or not it will post a list of physicians registered to prescribe medical marijuana.
In New York state there are just over 700 physicians registered with the medical marijuana program. Almost 9,000 patients have been certified.
