Maryland Governor Wes Moore has appointed Tabatha Robinson, a cannabis official from New York, as the new director of the Maryland Cannabis Administration, the agency responsible for overseeing the state’s recreational and medical marijuana markets.
Tabatha Robinson.
Robinson, currently the executive deputy director of economic development and acting chief equity officer for the New York State Office of Cannabis Management, will begin her new role on February 19. She will replace Will Tilburg, who announced his departure from the agency late last year. Robinson will serve as acting director until confirmed by the state Senate during the ongoing 90-day legislative session.
“Maryland’s cannabis industry is a national model, and its success is a testament to prioritizing product safety for consumers and promoting social equity market-wide,” Robinson said in a statement released by Moore’s office.
Before her work in New York, Robinson served as a corporate attorney and as a special assistant attorney general in the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. She entered the cannabis industry in 2018, conducting research on how legacy markets adjusted pricing and distribution strategies in newly legalized states, according to the New York State Office of Cannabis Management.
Maryland legalized recreational marijuana through a ballot measure approved in November 2022, with licensed sales beginning on July 1, 2023. The law allows those 21 and older to purchase and possess up to 1.5 ounces of marijuana. In 2024 alone, licensed marijuana stores generated over $1.1 billion in sales.
