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Where do patients fit into New York’s adult-use market?

As New York’s first fully legal sales grow closer the excitement continues to grow. For medical cannabis patients who have been at the forefront of normalizing cannabis however, it may feel as though they have been pushed to the back of the conversation.

Adult-use legalization has had considerable impact on the number of new registrants, as seen in several US states, as well as in Canada. The relative ease of adult-use retail means existing patients may choose not to renew their medical authorization, and new consumers may choose never to enter the medical market at all. In this new, brand-driven market, with fewer and fewer new patients, where do the remaining medical cannabis patients fit?

How did medical cannabis affect patients in Canada?

The US’s neighbor legalized adult-use countrywide in 2018, making it the second oldest legal market in the world, having legalized medical cannabis back in 2001. New York has had the opportunity to watch and learn from Canada’s legalization journey and the effects on patients can be expected to follow suit.

Prohibitions Partners recently released North American Cannabis Report: 3rd Edition explores evidence from surveys carried out across Canada. The surveys showed increased consumption in patients, following adult-use legalization, perhaps due to increased normalization. Whilst a reduction in stigma is a win for patients, as many as a quarter reported finding it more difficult to get their preferred products after adult-use sales were introduced. Patients also report that in consumer-focused markets, their chosen products become more expensive.

How has New York prepared?

Having the power of hindsight, New York has already set about negating some of the issues raised in Canada.

After the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) passed in 2021, the Office of Cannabis Management announced the expansion of the medical cannabis program, allowing doctors to prescribe cannabis for any condition they see fit, having previously only been able to prescribe from a list of approved conditons. In addition, the New York Senate also approved a bill to legally redefine cannabis as a “prescription drug”. This move made it a requirement for public health insurance to cover medical cannabis costs, removing price as a barrier to entry for New Yorkers.

Just last week new home cultivation laws came into effect, allowing for patients and carers to grow their own plants, helping to circumvent possible future supply issues as found by Canadian patients.

The cultivation laws state:

  • Only certified patients and designated caregivers over 21 years of age or older can grow medical cannabis.
  • Only one person may grow on behalf of each patient
  • A patient can plant, cultivate, harvest, dry, process or possess 3 mature and 3 immature cannabis plants at any one time.
  • A caregiver can home grow medical cannabis for up to 4 patients, but may only have a total of 6 mature and 6 immature plants at any time

However, there are still concerns that these measures are not enough. Some critics believe the medical program has been left behind. In a Syracuse article, Ngiste Abebe, president of the NY Medical Cannabis Industry Association said that, in building the adult-use market, New York had “systematically weakened its medical program, and made it as inaccessible as possible”.


At this year’s Business of Cannabis: New York speakers Andrew Ward, Andreas Neumann and Jeff Finnerty will be on the ‘No Patients Left Behind?’ panel where they’ll deep dive into the future of medical cannabis patients in New York’s adult-use market. Join us in the New York Academy of Medicine on 3 November to be a part of the conversation.

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