The Orthodox Union, which bills itself as offering “the world’s most recognized and trusted kosher certification,” has decided after nearly a year of deliberation that pot is not only acceptable under Jewish law, but using it while sick is a mitzvah — the Jewish equivalent of a good deed. Because of the ruling, New York dispensaries will be able to stock the shelves with certified kosher kush when the state’s medical marijuana program begins operating in 2016.

Last February, Jewish newspaper The Forward reported that the Orthodox Union’s kosher certification agency was in talks with several medical marijuana manufacturers in New York to evaluate whether their product stood up to Jewish law. Untreated plants are automatically kosher, but rabbis must vet other marijuana products like edibles or pills in order for them to be cleared for ingestion by religious Jews.

On Wednesday, Vireo Health of New York, a branch of a major medical marijuana manufacturer, announced that it won the Orthodox Union’s stamp of approval. [Read more at Vice News]