Vireo Health, a maker of medical marijuana in New York, is expanding into the recreational marijuana market with the $10 million acquisition this week of a Massachusetts firm.

The company bought Mayflower Botanicals Inc., a registered marijuana dispensary certificate holder in Massachusetts. As part of the transaction, Vireo acquired 73 acres of land in rural New Bedford, Massachusetts, that’s been zoned for the production, processing and distribution of medical cannabis, with an expedited path toward adult-use licensure.

Founded and run by physicians, Vireo officials described the company’s transition from the medical to recreational marijuana market as “inevitable.”

“Our science drives us,” said Dr. Kyle Kingsley, founder and CEO of Vireo. “We know that cannabis has a role on the medical side of things, but we also believe it has a role to play in health and wellness and recreation.”

Specifically, Kingsley said, it’s a far safer recreational alternative to both alcohol and tobacco, which kill a respective 88,000 and 480,000 Americans a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Read more at Albany Times-Union]