The New York State Department of Health announced Monday that it is now accepting applications for businesses interested in becoming registered organizations to manufacture and distribute medical marijuana to the state of New York. The state plans to award five contracts to private marijuana growers, who will each be permitted to open up to four dispensaries to distribute the drug to certified patients across the state. State officials have estimated it would take about nine months to grow the marijuana.

Howard Zucker, acting Health Commissioner, said the following in a statement, as reported by the Poughkeepsie Journal: “We have laid out an ambitious timeline in getting the program up and running and we are meeting our goals…Once the applications are in, we can begin our review and move to the next step of selecting the registered organizations this summer.” The marijuana medicine will also be available in non-smokeable forms, such as pills, oils and vapors. All of this comes after Governor Cuomo signed into effect a law making marijuana use legal for those who are seriously ill or injured.

Medical marijuana advocates have been clamoring for the state to speed up the process, saying patients, particularly sick children, need the drug as soon as possible. Some forms of the drug have shown promise in severely epileptic children, advocates say. A bill was introduced last week that would significantly expedite the kick-start of the NY medical marijuana program. The memo attached to the bill read, “The purpose of this program is to expedite the availability of medical (marijuana) to avoid suffering and loss of life … especially in the case of patients whose serious condition is progressive and degenerative.”