Messenger: What’s that burning in the oven? It’s Missouri’s medical marijuana license process.

September 20, 2020
AggregatedNews
Missouri
0 Comments

Think of Missouri’s rollout of its medical marijuana licensing like a pot brownie.

The conflicts of interest and corruption aren’t accidental ingredients, they’re baked into the system.

That appears to be the conclusion after multiple open records requests made by the Missouri House committee that has been investigating the licensing rollout since late last year. The revelations are in a memo prepared by an attorney for the Democrats on the committee, that outlines a scenario in which the administration of Gov. Mike Parson intervened in the licensing process, potentially to benefit certain companies.

The Special Committee on Government Oversight, chaired by Rep. Robert Ross, R-Houston, found “credible allegations emerged concerning executive branch interference in” the state’s rollout of its medical marijuana program, according to the memo.

Parson, facing a tough election battle with Democrat Nicole Galloway, dismissed the contents of the memo as partisan. But that ignores the words and evidence that have come out of the Republican-led committee, the administration’s own actions, and allegations laid out in the numerous lawsuits filed by scorned license applicants who outline multiple problems with the scoring system that appears to have favored certain insiders. [Read More @ The St. Louis Post Dispatch]