[PRESS RELEASE] – ALBANY, N.Y., March 4, 2025 – Patients, providers, advocates and lawmakers will gather at 10 a.m. March 5 at the Million Dollar Staircase, third floor, of the New York Capitol to highlight the deterioration of the state’s medical cannabis program and call for immediate action by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration and the Legislature to protect patients and ensure access to high-quality, medical-grade cannabis products.
New York’s medical cannabis program, established in 2016, has been steadily contracting. In March 2021, New York had 148,514 registered medical cannabis patients. By October 2024, that number had fallen to 106,000 and now sits at just above 100,000.
At the same time, 11 medical dispensaries closed in the last year with only 31 open today statewide. Per the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), New York could and should have at least 80 medical dispensaries, with many more from new operators on their way to opening. Instead, the new operators mandated to be licensed per the MRTA in 2021 only just received their registrations.
Failure to improve access and health equity by implementing the MRTA’s mandated expansion of the medical program has eroded both patient trust and market viability.
Unlike adult-use consumers, patients depend on specialized medical-grade products to manage chronic illnesses and severe conditions—many of which require precise formulations. Medical products have a higher testing standard than adult-use products, can be more potent or in other product forms, and have a lower tax rate. Trained pharmacists in medical dispensaries work with patients to find the right products and dosages to meet their unique needs.
Most disadvantaged by the deterioration of the medical cannabis program are pediatric patients under the age of 21. For a child with a severe seizure disorder, the closure of a dispensary is not a mere inconvenience—it could be a matter of life and death. It is illegal for a parent to purchase adult-use cannabis products for someone under the age of 21 in the adult-use market.
WHO: Medical cannabis patients, providers, advocates, state lawmakers.
WHAT: Press conference to highlight the deterioration of the medical program and demand that the governor and Legislature protect patients, and ensure their continued access to high-quality, medical-grade cannabis products.
WHEN: Wednesday, March 5, 2025, 10 a.m.
WHERE: Million Dollar Staircase, third floor, state Capitol.
To RSVP or for more information contact Liz Benjamin: [email protected], 518-424-0356.
The advocates are demanding action from elected officials amid dispensary closures curtailing access to medical products unavailable in the adult-use market. Read More
