New York’s top cannabis official resigned on Monday at Gov. Kathy Hochul’s request following the sudden withdrawal, on the eve of trial, of a major state enforcement case against a Long Island-based marijuana company.
In a statement, the governor said that she had accepted the resignation, effective immediately, of the official, Felicia A.B. Reid, who was appointed last year to lead the Office of Cannabis Management.
Ms. Reid took on the post amid the rocky rollout of the state’s ambitious plans for the building of a legal market for cannabis. But according to the governor, state regulators continued to stumble under Ms. Reid. Ms. Hochul cited the dropping of the case against the Long Island-based firm, Omnium Health.
“Too often, the Office of Cannabis Management has stood in the way of the market realizing its potential, including most recently in the case of a pending compliance action that it has had to withdraw,” Ms. Hochul said in her statement.
The Office of Cannabis Management withdrew charges against Omnium earlier on Monday, less than a day before an administrative trial at the agency was set to start. Officials also lifted an accompanying order recalling products made at the company’s facilities for some of the country’s leading brands.
And James Rogers, a former prosecutor who led the investigation into Omnium, was also fired, according to three people aware of his departure who requested anonymity to discuss the personnel move. Omnium did not respond to a request for comment.
Officials did not publicly disclose a reason for the withdrawal of the case or for the timing of the action.
State regulators had accused Omnium of illegally allowing out-of-state companies like Stiiizy, Grön and mfused to make their own products under its license. Officials had sought to revoke Omnium’s licenses, ban the company from the state and force the owners to pay millions of dollars in fines.
The case ensnared some of the most recognizable cannabis brands in the country, and it was the biggest test of the agency’s authority to crack down on bad behavior in the legal market. The companies all denied wrongdoing.
The companies declined to comment, noting that the hearing was still set to go forward on Tuesday. At the heading, the administrative judge could dismiss the case or take other action.
In an email to Omnium obtained by The New York Times, Kevin Brown, a lawyer for the state agency, said officials were reviewing information linked to the case that had just come to their attention. He did not elaborate.
Taylor Randi Lee, a spokeswoman for the agency, added that the case was withdrawn “without prejudice,” meaning it could be refiled in the future.
Ms. Reid, 40, did not answer a phone call or text message. Ms. Hochul appointed her to lead the cannabis agency in June 2024, following a controversial audit that blamed the agency’s founding leaders for a troubled start.
Susan Filburn, the agency’s chief administrative officer, will now lead the agency on an interim basis, according to an email she sent to the agency’s governing board.
The Empire State Green Standard Alliance, a consumer advocacy group, had praised regulators for taking action against Omnium. On Monday, the group called for clarity after the case was withdrawn and Ms. Reid resigned.
“New York’s cannabis consumers deserve stability, transparency, and consistent enforcement,” said Herb Barbot, the group’s chairman and the cannabis agency’s operations director. He called on the state to conduct a thorough search for Ms. Reid’s replacement, adding that it needed to be someone with industry experience and credibility.
Mr. Rogers, 61, declined to comment. He led the agency’s Trade Practices Bureau, which opened to great fanfare in February with a mission to root out corruption among licensed businesses. Omnium was one of the unit’s first targets. And Mr. Rogers had vigorously defended the case even as the companies swept up in it threatened to sue, which they have not done.
When New York legalized recreational cannabis in 2021, lawmakers sought to create a level playing field for small local businesses to compete with deep-pocketed companies that had a head start in other states, while uplifting people who were harmed by the state’s past enforcement against marijuana. But critics said that rampant, unchecked cheating undermined those efforts and squeezed out honest operators who didn’t have the resources to compete.
The cannabis agency had focused its limited resources on setting up the market and shutting down unlicensed operators before officials created the bureau to address misconduct among licensed businesses.
Ashley Southall writes about cannabis legalization in New York.
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