New York adopts final rules for homegrown cannabis

Chris Alexander, who abruptly stepped down from his position as head of the state’s Office of Cannabis Management last month, was the agency’s first leader.

He won a reputation as a fierce advocate of the industry’s social equity goals.

“I think Chris was the right person at the right time to help us launch cannabis in New York state,” said Tremaine Wright, chairwoman of the Cannabis Control Board, the industry’s oversight body.

Now, the agency is moving on. With the search for a new permanent head underway, Felicia A.B. Reid was introduced as the agency’s interim executive director at Tuesday’s board meeting, the first since Alexander’s resignation.

The board approved more than 100 new retail licenses at the meeting. There are now 132 dispensaries operating statewide.

The board also finalized homegrown regulations, which allow New Yorkers to grow as many as six plants — three mature and three immature — at home.

Individuals can also possess up to five pounds of cannabis derived from those plants.

“It makes everyone aware that this is a product that you can take home, that you can handle on your own, that it’s safe,” Wright said.

Wright declined to weigh in on a story in the online news outlet The City that showed OCM employees had raised red flags over the state’s handling of the industry’s rollout. She deflected questions about the role of other state agencies in the program’s failures.

“This is not a moment for us to try to identify whodunit, because that’s not what this is about,” she said. “This is really about how we move forward, and how do we take constructive feedback.”

Wright’s term as chairwoman expires this fall.

As for her future?

“I don’t know,” she said. “You have to call the governor and ask her.”