‘We’ve lost the faith’: Missouri lawmakers continue probe of marijuana program
Lawmakers hammered the leaders of the state’s medical marijuana program on Wednesday, questioning the competence of its director and suggesting widespread problems are causing Missourians to lose faith in the process.
Lyndall Fraker, appointed to oversee the roll out of the program in December 2018, was grilled by the House government oversight committee two weeks ago over inconsistencies in the scoring of applications, a scoring bonus given to businesses located in certain ZIP codes and allegations that conflicts of interests tainted the process.
On Wednesday, the committee convened again to question the head of the state’s purchasing agency and Randall Williams, director of the department of health and senior services.
But before either could testify, Republican state Rep. Jared Taylor expressed frustration over Fraker’s previous performance, saying Fraker, “sat here and again and again told us ‘he didn’t know’ or ‘he wasn’t involved’ in any part of the widespread concerns” that he was asked about.
“I find it disconcerting that Director Fraker did not know the specifics of the program he is in charge of,” Taylor said. “Whether it was ignorance or confusion or incompetence, Director Fraker did not have the experience needed for this position.”
Before being chosen by Parson to lead the medical marijuana program, Fraker worked for 17 years as a Walmart manager. He also served eight years as a state lawmaker. He testified two weeks ago that he got the job after being contacted by Robert Knodell, Gov. Mike Parson’s deputy chief of staff and a longtime friend of Fraker.
Democratic state Rep. Jon Carpenter of Kansas City said for anyone who has been paying attention, “the wide held view is that this thing has been a disaster... We’ve lost the faith of a lot of Missourians that this process has been good and fair.”
He pointed to Knodell’s involvement in Fraker’s hiring as evidence that “the governor’s office clearly played a big role in this process. At the end of the day, the buck stops with the governor. He and his office owe us answers.”
A spokeswoman for the governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Fraker said he and his colleagues at the department of health worked hard to set up a new program from scratch in less than a year, meeting every constitution deadline.
“They are hurt by this,” he said of his coworkers. “I’m hurt by this. The implications that seem to be being made are just not true. My reputation is on the line. We’ve done everything by the book.”
As for why the legislature’s questions have gotten more sharp of late, Fraker said: “There is much more behind this, and as with most things in this building, I suspect it’s politics and money.”
Alleged conflicts
Questions have been swirling around the medical marijuana program almost since the day it was approved by voters in 2018.
As licenses started being handed out in December and January, jilted applicants began filing appeals — more than 800 so far. Bracing for a possible flood of lawsuits, the department of health and senior services has hired private attorneys to defend the state.
Many of the appeals argue that conflicts of interest may have tipped the scales in favor of certain applicants, with most of the accusations focused on the company hired by the state to score applications, Wise Health Solutions.
The company is a joint venture between Nevada-based Veracious Investigative & Compliance Solutions and Oaksterdam University, an unaccredited California institution in California that offers courses of study on the cannabis industry.
Oaksterdam conducted seminars last year in Missouri that were promoted as workshops to help license applicants with, among other things, “exclusive access to required industry relationships necessary to build teams and businesses that succeed.”
Oaksterdam has insisted no one involved in the Missouri seminars had anything to do with the subsequent scoring process.
But lawmakers worry those who paid to attend seminars may have been given an unfair advantage.
They are also concerned about reports that a professor at Oaksterdam may be involved with a company that got licenses to grow and sell marijuana in Missouri.
There have also been questions about whether Varacious Solutions consulted with applicants in other states that subsequently got licenses in Missouri.
Taylor said it troubles him that the department seemed to take Wise Health Solutions at their word that they had no conflicts of interest and did not check “whether Oaksterdam was coaching applicants on how to apply.”
Rep. J. Eggleston, R-DeKalb County, said the department should have done more due diligence.
“They signed a form, and so I guess they did nothing wrong?” he said. “Perhaps we should double check.”
Williams said this will all be resolved because everyone involved will end up being served with a subpoena in the appeals process.
“They will be under oath,” he said. “If they did anything wrong, they’ll be asked about it.”
‘Drug cartel’
Other lawmakers focused on Amy Moore, the deputy director of the medical marijuana program.
Moore’s husband is an attorney who has medical marijuana clients, leading to questions about what her role was in the process.
Fraker said Moore was walled off from any decisions involving applications submitted by a client of her husband and no company that her spouse represented got a license.
Moore said late Wednesday that lawmakers can investigate, but they will find no impropriety by either her or her husband.
“You’re asking me if I ever used my position for personal gain? No,” she said. “Did I ever allow personal relationships affect the policies I pursued. Absolutely not.”
There were also questions about why the state outsourced the scoring of applications to a private company instead of doing it in house.
Karen Boeger, director of the Office of Administration’s division of purchasing, testified Wednesday that she can’t recall an instance where a third-party was hired to do this type of scoring. She has been with the Office of Administration since 1984.
Williams said Wednesday night that he made the decision to go with a third-party scorer was his. He did so to avoid any accusations that political bias influenced the process.
He also made it a point to defend Fraker and his staff.
“It saddens me that he’s been disparaged,” he said. “He’s put together a great team. They’re what we want Missouri employees to be.”
Knodell pointed them in Fraker’s direction, Williams said, but after that the governor’s office had very limited involvement in the medical marijuana program.
State Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, said his main concern is focused on the department’s decision to cap the number of licenses to grow, transport and sell medical marijuana — issuing licenses to only the “bare minimum” required by the constitution.”
Not only does that limit access, he said, but it also “creates a real opportunity for corruption.”
“I hope you get rid of this cap, or we’ll have to do it for you,’ Merideth said.
Williams said that decision was made to avoid an “overgrow situation that could create “a great temptation for diversion to the black market.”
Democratic state Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal of University City didn’t mince words in her criticism of how the medical marijuana program has been managed thus far, accusing the department of “creating a monopoly” by capping the number of licenses.
“It very concerning to me that this process works the way that it does,” she said, “and honestly, I’m going to tell you it looks like a drug cartel, no pun intended.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 2:05 PM.
