John Kagia could be tapped to lead Office of Cannabis Management

Gov. Kathy Hochul is considering state Office of Cannabis Management Policy Director John Kagia to permanently lead the department after recent leadership turmoil, Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes said. Kagia has led policy implementation and public health campaigns at the state agency since 2022, and has worked to develop the legal cannabis market in several states for over a decade.

“I know that they’re talking to John Kagia,” Peoples-Stokes told City & State on Saturday during Albany’s 55th annual legislative conference of the state Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian legislators. Peoples-Stokes, a Buffalo Democrat, helped author and sponsored the original law that legalized recreational cannabis for New Yorkers over age 21. “Kagia, I think, is a great call,” she added. 

Hochul started a search two months ago to appoint a new executive director to the state Office of Cannabis Management to replace former acting executive director Felicia A.B. Reid. The governor fired Reid in December after the state was forced to drop charges against cannabis processor and distributor Omnium Health – a company accused of a reverse licensing scheme and trafficking illegal cannabis products into the state.

Susan Fillburn, OCM’s acting executive director, declined to comment on the governor’s selection process at a cannabis event earlier Saturday. Hochul’s office and the Office of Cannabis Management did not immediately return a request for comment.