Missouri medical marijuana officials will comply with lawmakers’ demand for records
State officials overseeing the rollout of medical marijuana in Missouri will turn over documents requested by lawmakers who are investigating allegations of misconduct in the program.
The Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight on Thursday sent a letter to the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) demanding records documenting interactions with industry insiders and detailing how key decisions were made.
Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for DHSS, said the department will “attempt to comply with the request by June 1,” which was the deadline set by lawmakers.
The rollout of the medical marijuana program, which was approved by voters in 2018, has been marked with controversy.
At the heart of the legislature’s investigation has been widespread reports of irregularities in how license applications to grow and sell medical marijuana were scored. Additionally, lawmakers have raised concerns about alleged conflicts of interest within DHSS and a private company hired to score applications may have tainted the process.
The Star reported in March that DHSS was served with a subpoena from a federal grand jury late last year seeking information about four medical marijuana applicants. And the FBI has been questioning those close to the industry, as well as elected officials, about medical marijuana for months — including a handful of lawmakers, lobbyists and staff in Jefferson City.
Thursday’s records request by a bipartisan panel of state lawmakers was seen as an escalation of the legislative inquiry, expanding it for the first time to include key members of Gov. Mike Parson’s inner circle.
Among the documents sought by the committee are records regarding the governor’s deputy chief of staff, Robert Knodell; chief operating officer, Drew Erdmann; and lobbyist Steve Tilley, a longtime friend of Parson who has numerous medical marijuana clients and has been under FBI scrutiny for months.
Knodell was instrumental in the hiring of the state’s medical marijuana czar, Lyndall Fraker. And records regarding Erdmann focus on what role he may have played in the decision to hire a British consulting firm to assist DHSS in the early stages of the medical marijuana program’s rollout.
As for Tilley, Cox said he and DHSS Director Randall Williams have rarely communicated about medical marijuana. Fraker has occasionally communicated with Tilley but, she said “such communications are commensurate with other industry representatives that have requested meetings or initiated communications.”
Cox noted that both Williams and Fraker “from the beginning have had an open door approach and will speak to anyone regarding the program.”
In an email to The Star, the governor’s press secretary, Kellil Jones, would only say that Parson has confidence in how the medical marijuana program has been managed.
Jack Cardetti, spokesman for the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association, said that while his organization hasn’t always agreed with how DHSS has implemented the medical marijuana program, “Fraker and his staff have shown tremendous honor and integrity in standing up this new program.”
Tilley is the lobbyist for the trade association, which is an industry group whose members have been awarded dozens of licenses to grow, transport and sell marijuana.
Whistleblower
Along with the records request, the House government oversight committee also received a copy of a whistleblower complaint from someone purporting to be a DHSS employee.
The committee’s chairman, GOP Rep. Robert Ross of Texas County, received the unsigned letter in March accusing DHSS officials of lying to legislators during public testimony and questioning the qualifications and salaries of those running the program.
Cox said DHSS has not been provided a copy of the letter and thus could not comment.
“DHSS has no reason to believe the newly established medical marijuana program is being run poorly,” she said. “In fact the evidence indicates that by meeting all constitutional deadlines, which by all accounts are aggressive, the program is meeting all expectations.”
In addition to the whistleblower complaint received by lawmakers, the state auditor’s office confirmed it has referred two whistleblower complaints to law enforcement that were specific to the operations and the application process of the medical marijuana program.
The auditor’s office couldn’t provide any other details because of whistleblower protection laws.
Cox said DHSS has not been contacted by any law enforcement regarding whistleblower complaints.
Ross told government oversight committee members that House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, has given the green light for public hearings to start again this summer, allowing the committee to “resume its work to educate Missourians on the questionable implementation by DHSS of the legalization of medical marijuana.”
