New York’s health system may soon go up in smoke.
Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to open the nation’s first medical center for “cannabis care” that will offer residencies for medics-in-training wanting to pair their Hippocratic Oaths with hydroponic tokes.
Hochul claims her proposed “Center for Excellence for Cannabis Care and Health Equity” will boost access to medical marijuana in minority communities — but critics blasted the plan as half-baked.
“Kathy Hochul must be high if she thinks taxpayers want a ‘Center for Cannabis Excellence’ while schools are failing, streets are unsafe, and families can’t afford New York,” said Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County and Republican hopeful looking to take on Hochul in the November election.
“As Governor, my top priorities will be tax relief, safer streets and better schools for you and your family,” he added.
Hochul didn’t provide specifics on how the center would address alleged racial disparities in medical marijuana care as she touted the program in her 2026 policy book that was unveiled alongside her State of the State speech on Tuesday.
“Black and Brown neighborhoods in New York tend to have more recreational cannabis dispensaries and fewer medical cannabis dispensaries and pathways to clinical care than other neighborhoods,” the policy book said.
“Developed with medical schools and residency programs, the Center will train clinicians on cannabis pharmacology, evidence-based care, and patient counseling—topics that are rarely covered in traditional medical education—so providers beyond medical dispensaries are equipped to counsel prospective medical cannabis patients and manage ongoing care.”
The center may even award state-issued licenses to doctors and nurses trained in medical marijuana treatment, a Hochul spokesperson confirmed to The Post.
“It’s all on the table. It’s being explored,” the spokesperson said. “We are in communication with medical schools to create a model for this program.”
The proposal from the Democratic governor comes on the heels of a bombshell 2025 scientific study led by UCLA researchers that found there was “insufficient evidence” to back up most of the supposed benefits of medical marijuana.
The study found little evidence that medical marijuana worked to treat acute pain or conditions like PTSD and rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers did find that high-potency cannabis users were more prone to psychotic symptoms and generalized anxiety disorder.
But critics said the legal pot rollout in the Empire State has been a real downer.
“Probably won’t help. Ever since the irresponsible rollout of legal weed in New York, people are ‘self-medicating’ with cannabis, even while they’re driving. You can smell it every day,” said state Sen. George Borrello (R-Jamestown).
There are more than 550 dispensaries in the state now, but the rollout over the past three years has been marred by bureaucratic bungling and litigation over regulators misapplying the law. The Office of Cannabis Management admitted it goofed in establishing the criteria for a buffer zone from schools between licensed cannabis stores.
New York first legalized cannabis for medicinal purposes a decade ago. Patients receive a doctor’s prescription to use cannabis to ease chronic pain and treat a host of illnesses.
But the number of medicinal dispensaries plummeted after the state legalized pot for adult recreational use/
Advocates and pot merchants said medicinal cannabis patients got lost in the shuffle and agreed that having more medical professionals with expertise to treat them would help.
“We are encouraged that Governor Hochul is taking steps to rebuild New York’s medical cannabis program, which has been steadily eroding due to persistent disinvestment and is in desperate need of help,” the New York Medical Cannabis Industry Association said in a statement.
“Her proposals to build participation in the program by working with educational institutions to better inform healthcare practitioners and thereby reach more patients is welcome, but there is much more to do.”
The group called for scrapping the medical cannabis tax, a levy that is imposed on no other medicine in the state.
A licensed marijuana merchant applauded the governor’s initiative.
“Having a cannabis care center is a great idea. There’s a lack of access for medicinal cannabis patients,” said Osbert Orduna, CEO of The Cannabis Place in Middle Village, Queens.
“The doctors receive very little training about cannabinoids. It’s a good thing for medical professionals to have the knowledge. It’s a specialty to understand how cannabis works and how it interacts with the body.”
But Orduna also said the state would better serve medicinal patients by also lowering the tax to buy products at regular marijuana dispensaries. Cannabis products are taxed at a 10% higher rate than at stores that just cater to medical patients.
Hochul also announced a plan to strengthen the cannabis supply chain by creating a cannabis business incubator hub network that will offer funding for loans to existing merchants, startup capital for new ones, a business development grant fund, and a partnership with SUNY and CUNY.
Read the full article here