T-H-C ya later!
Several high-level staffers at New York’s cannabis regulator are calling it quits — after Gov. Kathy Hochul axed the agency’s head and blasted it as a “disaster.”
The staffers leaving the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) include Nicole Rosa, Director of Health and Safety; Danielle Holmes, Deputy Director for Licensing; Patricia Piskorski Heer, First Deputy General Counsel; and Linda Baldwin, General Counsel.
The departures take with them years of institutional knowledge dating back to the start of New York’s medical marijuana program — and comes after Hochul dumped OCM’s head, Christopher Alexander, earlier this year.
Former staffers said the governor’s overhaul is killing morale.
“If the governor comes in and fires your boss who you’ve been working your ass off for the last three years and calls your work a disaster, you might be a little upset,” one New York cannabis insider told The Post about the recent resignations.
In May, Hochul rolled out a report criticizing OCM and its leadership for the rollout of the cannabis program, which has been rife with complaints and riddled by lawsuits.
During the mid-May announcement, Hochul said she would not reappoint Alexander, prompting him to quit two weeks later.
But the Empire State gov’s swift moves raised eyebrows amongst cannabis insiders and lawmakers concerned with prioritizing the program’s goals of diversifying the industry.
“As champions of the [marijuana legalization legislation], the Caucus will remain deeply invested in its success and will work diligently to ensure that the contributions of Chris Alexander and the countless New Yorkers who fought for this bill are not forgotten or maligned,” Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Nassau), chairperson of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian American Caucus wrote in a statement in May.
“The departures of the inaugural OCM Executive Director should not correlate with the death of our crucial social equity goals.”
A spokesperson for Hochul’s office referred questions about the departing staffers to OCM. OCM didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“As New York expands the most equitable cannabis market in the nation, my administration remains committed to building a safe industry for all New Yorkers that will grow our small business community,” Governor Hochul said in an unrelated statement announcing the opening of the 150th legal cannabis dispensary in the state Friday.
Meanwhile, the problems with New York’s cannabis rollout aren’t limited to OCM.
A fund meant to provide financing for cannabis entrepreneurs to open legal pot shops has been criticized as “predatory.”
Reporting by THE CITY revealed that the deal with a private equity firm, Chicago Atlantic Group, to fund the program was carried out despite protests from OCM employees.
The loans from the fund are provided at high interest rates based on astronomically overinflated revenue projections for the prospective stores, the outlet reported.
Last month, a firm sued the Dormitory Authority — a state agency used to direct and facilitate funding towards state projects and initiatives — alleging that its former head sought illegal kickbacks from no-bid contracts associated with the fund.
