The Williams family lives in Lockport, N.Y., a rural town in Western New York about 30 miles north of Buffalo. Their son Tommy has a rare form of epilepsy and needs medical marijuana to control his seizures.
When New York state passed a bill allowing for emergency access to medical cannabis, the Williams family thought they would be first in line to receive treatment.
More than three months later, however, they’re still waiting for the life-saving drug for their son.
Tommy needs a specific type of oil, with certain levels of CBD and THC. Both dispensaries in Erie County told the Williams family they don’t have the specific strain they need.
Medical dispensaries only opened in New York state in the first week of January, 2016. Yet the state has only issued a relatively small number of medical marijuana licenses, and business for the dispensaries has been sluggish.
The dispensaries in Erie County that are the most accessible for the Williams family said it will take up to four weeks of growing, then harvesting, processing, and state inspection the strain Tommy needs for his seizures is ready.
So despite having an ID card to purchase it, the Williams are out of luck.
Wednesday, mother Patti Williams drove four hours to Johnson City to purchase it from a dispensary that does carry it.
“On top of the wait, now the added expense of driving, the gas, getting a room down there, because I’m not going to make the trip all in one day and coming back. And we have to keep doing this month after month until we have access here in Buffalo,” she said.
Not including the price of gas and a hotel, the Williams will have to pay about $750.00 per month for Tommy’s starter dose.
They’re told it could go up from there, as high as $2,000.
(Photo Credit: wivb.com)
