ALBANY — State health officials are moving ahead with plans to license additional medical marijuana growers despite concerns that there's not enough patients to support the industry.
In a move that infuriated pot producers already operating in the state, the Health Department signaled this week that it's begun reaching out to organizations that lost out in the initial 2015 licensing competition to see if they are still interested.
The department said Thursday it expects to issue five additional licenses during the first half of this year and phase in the entrance of the new growers over two years.
"It was a little bit like a kick in the stomach," said Jeremy Unruh, general counsel for PharmaCann LLC, one of the five growers already licensed to operate in the state. "We already can't survive as the market stands today."
Unruh and other growers said they are mulling legal action to block the state from adding new growers.
"This misguided attempt to expand the marijuana program could end up killing the program and leaving thousands of patients without access to life-sustaining medicine," said one industry owner who declined to be identified.
The Health Department, in a statement, said "ensuring patients are able to get the relief they need is our top priority" and promised a smooth integration of the new growers.
"While it is unsurprising that any business might oppose more competition in the market, additional registered organizations will improve patient access to the program throughout New York State, and patients will also benefit from a broader range of available medical marijuana products," the department said.
Launched just over a year ago, New York's medical pot program has been slow to attract patients. As of this week, just 14,045 patients had completed the cumbersome process to obtain state certification to receive the drug. Officials estimate that only about half that number have gone on to become repeat customers.
Adding to the difficulty is the fact that less than 900 doctors have completed the state-mandated process to certify patients for medical pot, which, under state law, can only be used to treat a limited number of conditions, including chronic pain.
In December, a trade organization representing New York's five growers warned in a letter to the Health Department that they were "sustaining tremendous operating losses" and would be hard-pressed to survive if the department followed through on plans to add producers.
"It doesn't matter how many new licenses the states issues, so long that qualifying New Yorkers can't find a doctor to recommend medical marijuana, patient access to New York's program will be minimal and we will continue to lag behind other states," said Ari Hoffnung, chief executive officer of marijuana grower Vireo Health of New York.