Albany’s celebration of $1 billion in commercial marijuana sales earlier this year must have been music to Big Pot’s ears. “Let us celebrate the individuals, businesses, and communities in cannabis who drive our state’s economic engine,” exulted Felicia A. B. Reid, acting executive director of the state Office of Cannabis Management.
No one would expect state health commissioner James McDonald to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with, say, Altria or Philip Morris USA to celebrate the sale of tobacco products. But here was Reid, backing drugs known to cause addiction, IQ loss, psychosis, and schizophrenia, especially in young people.
Coming from someone whose core responsibility is to ensure that New York’s legal market protects public health and safety, Reid’s statement was alarming. If the Office of Cannabis Management is applauding industry profits, it raises questions about the rigor with which it is carrying out its regulatory duties…