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Columbia Care, one of the state’s medical cannabis companies, has closed its Rochester dispensary for nearly a week after the Office of Cannabis Management denied the company a waiver to operate with a virtual pharmacist.
The closure affects roughly 750 patients and comes after the company found itself with a shortage of pharmacists caused by a mixture of unexpected medical and parental leaves and vacations.
In response, the NY Medical Cannabis Industry Association – which represents the interests of nearly all of the state’s registered organizations – issued a statement:
“Once again, New York’s cannabis regulators have shown a complete lack of consideration for medical patients, leaving them in a potentially vulnerable and precarious position. The temporary closure of Columbia Care’s Rochester dispensary poses serious threats to those who depend on this specific location for access to essential medications and sends a troublesome message to all patients and medical operators statewide.”
OCM spokesperson Aaron Ghitelman told NY Cannabis Insider that waivers for virtual pharmacists aren’t allowed under the MRTA or by OCM.
“If an emergency absence leaves a medical dispensary without an on-site pharmacist, they can bring a pharmacist from one of their other locations to serve on-site, or have temporary or per diem pharmacist employees on call,” Ghitelman said.
On Tuesday, Columbia Care sought a waiver from OCM that would allow a pharmacist to virtually supervise the Rochester dispensary through Monday. (During COVID, the state allowed virtual supervision.)
“We already provide telehealth, so the telemedicine aspect of virtual medical consultations is happening all the time in the medical program,” said Ngiste Abebe, VP of Public Policy at Columbia Care. “This is clearly an emergency need … but OCM appears unwilling to work with us.”
Abebe added, “I would just highlight that OCM keeps trying to be creative with its problem solving within other parts of the industry, but when it comes to the medical part, we don’t see the same commitment.”
However, Geoffrey Brown, a NYS-registered medical cannabis pharmacist and the founder of CannaBuff, said that while the Columbia Care closure is unfortunate, “there is not a shortage of pharmacists willing to work at dispensaries, especially in Western New York where hundreds of pharmacists enter the job market every year from pharmacy schools in the region.”
“What has worked in the past in situations like this is hiring a per diem pharmacist to cover these temporary changes in staffing or offering pharmacists from other stores in the state an incentive to come cover the store,” Brown said.
Columbia Care will pay its employees for their planned shifts during the closure “since this was not anything they could have anticipated,” Abebe said.