At the opening of Nassau County’s first medical marijuana dispensary Friday, Bloomfield Industries Chief Operating Officer Colette Bellefleur said she was happy to bring a much-needed service to the community.
“To put this company and stand up these operations in five months, it doesn’t feel that long, but I know it’s been long for the patients in New York,” Bellefleur said. “The medicine they’ve been waiting for is finally available for them.”
Bloomfield opened its doors at 2001 Marcus Ave. in Lake Success after receiving approval from the Town of North Hempstead’s building department to occupy a temporary vacant office last Tuesday.
Discussions to occupy a permanent office had been delayed due to revisions requested by the town’s building department, but Bellefleur said the application received the town’s approval Thursday.
“We are finalizing our design,” she said. “We’ll do our construction and we should be open [in the permanent office] with Bloomfield’s designs in a few weeks, we hope.”
In late September, Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth and Town Attorney Elizabeth Botwin said they thought the dispensary would be classified as a pharmacy, which is not a permitted use for that site.
But the building department determined otherwise.
“When Bloomfield submitted its actual plans to the building department, the department found that it fell within the description of a doctor’s office and not a retail store,” Bosworth said in a statement. “A medical office conforms with our zoning for that location.”
Bloomfield will join other medical practices, including cardiology group Premier Cardiology Consultants and the Long Island IVF fertility clinic in the office complex, located just over a mile from Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
Another medical office complex and a division of Cohen Children’s Medical Center are adjacent to the property.
Bellefleur said she had personal experience with medical marijuana for “quite a while” because one of her nephew’s had multiple sclerosis.
She said once people become more familiar with what the facility aims to accomplish, some misconceptions about medical marijuana will be disproved.
“It’s going to take away all the stigma, all the misunderstanding, all the lack of knowledge about what cannabis-based medicine really is,” Bellefleur said. “I think it’s going help a lot of people. And once everyone understands that, as we’ve seen in all the communities we’ve gone to, they’ll support it. It’s a great step forward for New York.”
Bloomfield is one of five companies approved to open dispensaries under the 2014 Compassionate Care Act, a state law legalizing medical marijuana as of Jan. 5.
Under the law, New York residents with diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis can register with the state health department for a medical marijuana prescription.
According to the state Department of Health, 292 doctors have registered to prescribe medical marijuana and 409 patients received doctor’s certifications to use the product.
“It’s a place for patients who are registered and certified with the state of New York to come and get counseled by our pharmacist and receive their cannabis-based medicine,” Bellefleur said.
She also said Bloomfield currently offers two types of products to patients, with two more to become available in the upcoming months.
The company offers a cannabis-based syrup, similar to cough syrup, Bellefleur said, and an oil-based product for children who have epilepsy.
She added that the company was looking to begin offering a cannabis vaporizer pen to patients in February and a cannabis inhaler, though there is no set date for when that will be offered.
“Depending on the patient’s condition and what they can tolerate, they’ll choose from one of those four forms,” Bellefleur said.
Bloomfield has a manufacturing center in Long Island City and opened dispensaries in Syracuse and Williamsville on Jan. 7.
It also plans to open a facility in Manhattan.
