A former furniture store on Erie Boulevard East in Syracuse could become a medical marijuana dispensary in the near future.

Empire State Compassionate Care (ESCC), a company owned and operated by one of the largest medical marijuana distributors in New Jersey, is one of 23 applicants seeking a medical marijuana license through New York State. The state plans to award a total of five permits from these 23 applications.

The company has issued a press release that states if they are awarded a license, they plan to operate four dispensaries in the state, including one at 3057 Erie Boulevard East.

The remaining dispensaries would be in Cheektowaga, Hempstead and Manhattan. Marijuana would be manufactured in New Windsor, which is located in Orange County.

“As we have already done for over 25,000 patients in New Jersey and Colorado, we are eager to help people across New York get the treatment they need to manage these debilitating illnesses,” said ESCC President David Weisser in the press release. “We’re excited to put in an application with locked-in dispensary and manufacturing locations.”

The five New York state medical marijuana licenses should be decided on sometime this summer.

Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].