​The first license to grow medical marijuana in New York State​ was released today​, ​but critics say just five licenses in a state so large ​is​ woefully in adequate.

“To those who did not make the cut, stick around,” said State Senator Diane Savino, a Staten Island Democrat who sponsored the 2014 bill. “New York is a very big state.”

Starting small allow​s​ state regulators to make significant changes ​as necessary, providing much more control over the program which will hopefully equate to both better​ patient ​protection ​a​s well as safe, consistent,​ ​quality​, product​s. FOCUS is actively working with many state regulator​s​ to ​legitimize the ​industry​ in an effort to protect public health, consumer safety and safeguard the environment​.

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