As someone who has been a New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) resident for more than 30 years, has been elected president of the Nostrand Houses Resident Association for 14 consecutive years and was elected to the Citywide Council of Presidents for the New York City Housing Authority this year, I want to make sure that New York ensures public housing residents have access to medical marijuana. The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which was signed into law in 2021, legalized adult-use marijuana in New York with an eye toward social equity. The new law also allows for an expansion of the medical marijuana program, which is something I fully support because the current program is very complex, expensive and hard to get to, which makes it less accessible for communities of color, older adults and those with disabilities.
The medical program has 10 Registered Organizations, and many of the 38 dispensaries are in wealthier communities, like Park Slope and the Upper East Side. They are not located near me in Sheepshead Bay nor are they located near NYCHA developments in communities like East New York, Jamaica or Brownsville. New York State claims it is on track to open 20 recreational dispensaries by the end of the year, but there is no news on new medical dispensaries to serve my neighbors and me.
Additionally, I am seeing firsthand how an illicit market is thriving by setting up shop near NYCHA developments in communities like mine to fill a gap. This leaves residents in these communities who need medical cannabis relying on less effective treatments with potentially significant side effects. These operators have not passed high safety and health standards but oftentimes, they are the only operators within walking distance of a NYCHA development.
The New York State Office of Cannabis Management should ensure that new medical marijuana dispensaries are able to open in communities of color that are home to large amounts of public housing. These dispensaries should be operated by Registered Organizations owned and operated by, or partnered with, people of color and especially those who know how difficult it is to access health care in communities that have historically been left behind.
This would also create an opportunity to develop a continuum of care in communities where health care and mental health care needs are significant. A 2020 survey of NYCHA residents in the Far Rockaways found that one-quarter of residents say that living conditions directly affect their physical health, ranging from asthma to central nervous system problems, and one-third say that living conditions directly affect their mental health, adding greatly to stress and depression. Some of these are conditions that could be treated with easy access to affordable medical marijuana. These are my tenants and many tenants throughout public housing.
To create a continuum of care, the new dispensaries should extend health care by offering to facilitate a patient discussion with a physician about health issues. This creates key opportunities for early intervention and the ability to coordinate care.
New York is making history and moving in the right direction as we legalize adult-use marijuana and correct the wrongs of our past, but we cannot forget about those who desperately rely on medical marijuana but cannot easily access it because of where they live.
Barbara McFadden has lived in NYCHA for 30 years. She currently serves as the president of the Nostrand Houses Resident Association, where she has been elected into the role for 14 consecutive years. She was also elected to the Citywide Council of Presidents in 2022.
