Multi-state operator Curaleaf was told to remove ground flower from its New York dispensaries in September. After lenghthy negotiations with the Department of Health (DOH), ground flower is now available again at Curaleaf's Empire State shops.
The problem was New York does not allow the sale of flower. But seven months ago, the DOH agreed to Curaleaf's request to sell ground flower for vaping purposes. That went without incident until Curaleaf expanded its line of ground flower from small pods to larger jars. After a patient alerted the DOH, Curaleaf was told to remove the products
In a FAQ on its website, Curaleaf explains the new rules:
Why did it take so long to resolve?
"Despite resolving the size issue, the DOH required that our product be fully retested to ensure no further contamination; a testing protocol that takes a minimum of three to four weeks to complete for each individual lot. This process is very cumbersome, not to mention dependent on the bandwidth of the testing labs. Thus, the excessive delay was an unfortunate result."
What can we expect from your ground flower now?
"The most important thing to know is that what you receive now is the same high-quality, medical-grade flower as before. The only change? It’s now ground to the newly designated specification of less than 5mm in diameter per piece. If that sounds really small, it’s because it is. As for WHY 5mm was dubbed the magic number, your guess is as good as ours."
Is there any good news?
"We're ultimately sensitive to our patients’ needs, and we know what a disappointment it was to see Ground Flower Refills disappear for so long. We also know it’s a bummer to see the grind so fine today. We fought the good fight for the benefit of our thousands of patients, and while the outcome wasn’t what we hoped, we still consider the comeback of Ground Flower Refills to be great news."
Curtaleaf's New York locations are in Carle Place, Newburgh, Plattsburgh and Queens.
