New York State to Require Strict Dosing Rules for Medical Marijuana

When New York State releases the five much-coveted licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana next month, a series of strict requirements on dosing will be part of the package, unlike the majority of states with legal medical cannabis.

“We’ve had legal cannabis for over 17 years in California, and we have zero usable clinical data, because it’s got to be pegged to a dose,” Andrei Bogulubov, executive vice president of Long Island-based PalliaTech, told the New York Business Journal at last week’s Cannabis World Congress and Business Exposition in New York City.

PalliaTech seems to be prepared for New York’s strict rules with its patented PT 1000 medical device—a smokeless, single-dose delivery system, capable of metered dosing of plant and cannabinoid oils. The PT 1000, which cost $2 million to develop, is also designed to ensure the dose never combusts, a key factor for patients, Bogulubov explained.

“Doctors do not give you a bag of heart medicine in powdered form and say, ‘See how this works.’ They have to treat to the dose response curve,” Bogulubov said.

Bogulubov believes that dosage requirements could lead to a new era of marijuana big data that could change the way we think about cannabis.

The five companies awarded licenses in New York State will likely end up developing valuable data that could have important ramifications for the science behind medical marijuana.

“New York will start immediately,” Bogulubov said. “When you say, ‘How did it work?’ You’ve got data, you’ve been practicing the science of this. It’s profound.”

Another element comes into play in New York State, where a strict dosing system may be welcome. New York is one of the few states that prohibits smoking medical cannabis—whereas vaping, concentrates, tinctures and edibles, generally easier to measure in doses, are allowed.