Missouri House seeks testimony from medical marijuana czar after licensing complaints
With complaints about how medical marijuana licenses were divvied out starting to pile up, the Missouri House is asking the official overseeing the program to testify Wednesday before the government oversight committee.
In a letter to Lyndall Fraker, who was appointed as the director of medical marijuana regulation by Gov. Mike Parson in December 2018, Republican leaders of the Missouri House contend the legislature is “not fully apprised of the implementation” of the voter-approved medical marijuana program, known as Amendment 2.
The letter, signed by House Speaker Elijah Haahr, House Majority Leader Rob Vescovo and House Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann, was delivered Monday.
Republican legislative leaders hope Fraker can provide a presentation to the committee Wednesday.
“We believe the best start would be for you to present a summary of Amendment 2 similar to the presentation you gave at public forums across the state regarding the process the department would take in issuing the different types of licenes,” the letter says.
A spokeswoman for Fraker said he will testify Wednesday.
Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing medical marijuana in November 2018.
Over the last two months, the state has issued licenses for businesses looking to grow, manufacture, ship and sell legal marijuana in Missouri.
Many of those who were denied a license have cried foul, saying there were irregularities in the bidding process and inconsistencies in the scoring of applications.
So far, there have been more than 200 complaints filed with the Administrative Hearing Commission hoping to overturn the state’s rejection.
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 2:54 PM.
