Counsel for Missouri House Democrats have alleged in a new memo that the agency responsible for regulating the state’s medical cannabis industry obstructed an investigation into the program, according to The Kansas City Star.
The memo alleges conflicts of interest and other issues with a consultant the state hired to score medical cannabis license applications, according to the news outlet, and also claims that Gov. Mike Parson’s office was able to influence the state’s medical cannabis program, particularly with how applications were scored.
The investigation into the roll out of Missouri’s medical cannabis program reached Parson’s office in May, when the House Special Committee on Government Oversight sent a letter to the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) requesting records of the department’s interactions with cannabis industry stakeholders and insight into how key decisions were made in the medical cannabis licensing process.
The committee’s chairman, State Rep. Robert Ross, received a whistleblower complaint in March in the form of an unsigned letter from someone claiming to be a DHSS employee, who alleged that the department lied to legislators during public hearings related to the investigation.
The new report, written by Casey Millburg, counsel for the Missouri House Democratic Caucus, is a review of findings from the records sought by the committee, The Kansas City Star reported, and cites “ a frustrating series of departmental obfuscations and obstructions in response to warranted concerns and questions about the state’s medical marijuana licensure process,” according to the news outlet.
