Updated
RIVERHEAD – A new form of medical marijuana is being sold on Long Island.
Marijuana pills are available at Columbia Care – Riverhead’s medical marijuana dispensary on East Main Street.
Advocates say the pre-fill pills are better for patients looking for more precise dosages of their medication.
Columbia Care CEO Nicholas Vita says the pills might “be easier as a delivery method” for patients with motor skill problems and might provide longer symptom relief than other forms of medical marijuana.
Vita says he hopes to lower prices over the next 24 months. The pill form of medical marijuana is currently the same price as other forms.
Columbia Care opened in January. It is one of two medical marijuana dispensaries on Long Island. The other is in Lake Success.
Steve Chassman, of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, worries pills might be easy for healthy people to get a hold of and abuse.
“If you were to ingest the pill, within 15 or 20 minutes on an empty stomach, you would have severe psycho-active effects of THC – which is the active chemical in marijuana,” says Chassman.
