Regulators approved new rules Thursday allowing existing medical cannabis stores to sell pot to the public as upstate farmers fumed about a rocky rollout of the legal weed program.

Critics said the action is too little, too late, with an estimated 1,500 illegal operators taking over the New York City market.

New York state in 2014 approved the sale of marijuana for prescribed medical purposes, and seven years later legalized the recreational sale of cannabis.

State lawmakers and regulators, however, reserved the first batch of cannabis retail licenses to applicants convicted of pot-related offenses, saying they wanted to give victims of the war on drugs a chance to compete in the market.

But advocates bitterly complained, accusing Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration of discriminating against disabled military vets by prioritizing convicted drug felons in awarding pot sales licenses, The Post reported in April.

As it stands, there are just 10 legal cannabis dispensaries open across the state, while the illegal market has flourished, with New York City Mayor Eric Adams and city officials claiming 1,500 retail stores are illegally selling weed.

As a result, 40 existing medical cannabis stores with the infrastructure to immediately begin pot sales to the public were barred from doing so.

The new rules allow 10 medical marijuana operators to sell cannabis to the public, not just ailing patients, but only beginning Dec. 30.

Another 20 of the medical pot stores can start sales to the public by June 30, 2024.

The medical cannabis operators would be required to pay a $5 million license fee to expand and pay millions more based on revenue earned

The board also approved 50 other cannabis retail licenses for future openings. 

Queens Councilman Robert Holden, who has complained about the illegal pot shops, said the conversion of medical marijuana shops should have been done sooner to cut off the illegal market.

“That would have made sense. I guess that made too much sense. You wouldn’t have all these illegal shops,” Holden said.

Meanwhile, frustrated upstate farmers on Thursday urged regulators to accelerate the program during a meeting in Morrisville.

They complained they’re sitting on unsold weed.

“There are growing pains — and we have felt them. Many cannabis farmers are facing bankruptcy and they’re very distressed,” said farmer Mae Becker. “If we fail, farms and homes will be lost to bankruptcy and repossession.”

Another farmer, Catherine Miller, said her initial excitement about participating in the budding marijuana market has turned into a bad trip.

A year later, she said she’s become “severely stressed, very, very concerned about the future of my business I have built over the past 13 years.”

“I have 3 employees waiting to come back to work and I keep putting them off because I’m not sure I can make payroll,” she said.

“We need to open up lines of sales and we need to do it now.

“This is an emergency. For people who put ourselves and our businesses and lives on the line to make this happen, it’s pretty distressing to find ourselves in this situation.”

At the meeting, Chris Alexander, executive director of the state Office of Cannabis Management, conceded, “We have a lot more work to do.”

Regulators said a new law approved by Hochul and the legislature as part of the state budget gives them more authority to impose stiffer penalties and close illegal weed operators, though industry insiders are skeptical it’ll have much impact on the black market.

“The law will help us protect the legal market,” said board chairwoman Tremaine Wright.