Medical Marijuana Dispensary To Open In Murray Hill

MURRAY HILL, NY — A medical marijuana dispensary is opening in Murray Hill next month, the owners announced on Monday.

Etain, a New York medical marijuana company, is opening its first Manhattan shop at 142 E 39th St. in July, according to a post on its website. The company is working to have its storefront open by the second week of July. The New York Daily News first reported that the company would open in Manhattan on Sunday. (Want more local news? Subscribe here for free breaking news alerts, features, neighborhood updates and more from Patch.)

Hillary Peckham, Etain's founder, said that many patients were traveling to the company's other locations — in Yonkers, Albany, Kingston and Syracuse — without a New York City-based dispensary.

"Most of our patients have been traveling from Long Island or Manhattan all the way to our Yonkers location and we've been getting a lot of requests that we actually move into the five boroughs," Peckham told the New York Daily News.

The state's medical marijuana stipulates that growers can operate only four dispensaries, so Etain will be closing its Albany storefront before it opens in Manhattan, according to its website.

Etain is one of just five companies that were granted licenses by the state to grow and dispense medical marijuana. There are currently just three registered dispensaries in New York City, according to the New York health department's website. Existing dispensaries are located at 212 East 14th Street, 89-55 Queens Blvd in Elmhurst, and 405 Hunts Point Avenue in the Bronx.

Lead image via Shutterstock.