The New York medical cannabis program is off to a very slow start, with fewer than 2000 patients registered more than two months after the launch of the program. One of the barriers for patients wanting to access medical cannabis from the five state-licensed providers is their inability to find a doctor to provide the required certification. The state doesn’t make a list available of all of the 462 doctors that have taken a course and registered with it, leaving patients to search inefficiently. One licensed provider, Columbia Care, is trying to make it easier for potential customers:
Columbia Care has its own list of physicians who are registered in the state program and who have had conversations with the company, chief executive officer Nicholas Vita said Wednesday. When someone contacts Columbia Care, it asks those doctors for permission to share their phone numbers. Doctors who agree are added to a list sent to the person.
Read Patti Singer’s “Columbia Care serves as link between doctors, patients”: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/health/blogs/all-about-health/2016/03/23/columbia-care-medical-marijuana/82167038/
