NY boosts medical marijuana access as legal pot market looms

NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s much-anticipated legal pot shops could be a year away from opening. But the state is making medical marijuana much more available now. As of late last month (Jan. 2022), clinicians can greenlight medicinal pot for any condition they think it would help, not just for a limited list of ailments. In the last few months, New York also has started letting dispensaries sell whole marijuana buds and drafted proposed rules for patients who want to grow their own. It’s a big change for a medical marijuana program that was among the nation’s most restrictive when launched in 2016.