The transparency provisions were added to a wide-ranging local government bill approved by the House Tuesday evening
by Jason Hancock, Missouri Independent
The Missouri House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to require state regulators to disclose ownership information for businesses granted medical marijuana licenses that the state has withheld from public view.
Democratic Rep. Peter Merideth of St. Louis added the transparency requirements as an amendment to a local government bill approved by the Senate earlier this year. After a brief debate where no one spoke in opposition, the amendment was approved 128-6.
Related: Lawmaker says GOP resistance may doom Missouri cannabis legalization
The underlying bill, which contains numerous other House amendments, was approved and now heads back to the Senate. The legislative session ends at 6 p.m. Friday.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers argued Tuesday that the Department of Health and Senior Service’s decision to deem ownership records confidential has caused problems in providing oversight of the medical marijuana program. And that problem will only get worse, they contend, if a recreational marijuana ballot measure wins voter approval this fall.
Related: Time running short for dueling Missouri cannabis legalization efforts
“If we have a situation where all of the entities that got licenses under this existing program have an advantage in a bigger market, we have to continue doing real oversight to make sure that they were operating properly under the existing constitutional guidelines,” Merideth said, pointing to provisions in the proposed ballot measure that ensure current medical marijuana license holders get the initial batch of recreational licenses.
Analysis by The Independent and the Missourian last year of 192 dispensary licenses issued by the state found several instances where a single entity was connected to more than five dispensary licenses.
Related: With legalization looming, Black Missourians worry about losing out in cannabis industry
According to the constitution, the state can’t issue more than five dispensary licenses to any entity under substantially common control, ownership or management. But because DHSS has steadfastly withheld any ownership information about license holders from public disclosure, it’s impossible to determine who owns what.
This is one of those situations with strange bedfellows, folks on opposite ends of the spectrum that generally don’t agree with each other. But we agree that this as a responsible thing to do.
– Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis
The House attempted to add the a similar transparency amendment to legislation last year but was forced to remove it under threat of veto by Gov. Mike Parson.
“I don’t agree with the gentleman from St. Louis City on just about anything,” said state Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho, said of Merideth. “But this is something where I do… it’s a good amendment that will bring a little bit more oversight and transparency to this program.”
The state has justified withholding information from public disclosure by pointing to a portion of the medical marijuana constitutional amendment adopted by voters in 2018 that says the department shall “maintain the confidentiality of reports or other information obtained from an applicant or licensee containing any individualized data, information, or records related to the licensee or its operation… .”
Related: Criticism of Missouri medical cannabis system seeps into initiative petition debate
In February, the Missouri Supreme Court ordered the state to turn over certain medical marijuana application information that it had argued was confidential to a company appealing a denied license.
Medical marijuana instantly became big business in Missouri after voters passed a constitutional amendment allowing it in 2018, and competition for licenses became fierce when the state capped the number it would issue.
The Missouri House launched an investigation into the licensing process in early 2020, fueled by widespread reports of irregularities in how license applications were scored and allegations that conflicts of interest within DHSS and a private company hired to score applications may have tainted the process.
Legislative criticism of the medical marijuana program, specifically the state’s decision to cap that number of licenses issued to grow and sell product, have bubbled up periodically throughout the session.
Meanwhile, rumblings of an FBI investigation around the medical marijuana industry have swirled.
In November 2020, the head of Missouri’s medical marijuana program testified under oath that a federal grand jury subpoena his agency received was connected to an FBI investigation in Independence.
Missouri’s medical marijuana regulators received two additional federal grand jury subpoenas in 2020, with each redacted before being turned over to the media at the request of the federal government to obfuscate the records being sought by law enforcement.
A Kansas City-area businessman testified in a deposition that he was questioned by federal law enforcement last about medical marijuana licensing in Missouri and utility contracts in Independence — an indication that a potentially wide-ranging public corruption probe may be ongoing.
“This is one of those situations with strange bedfellows, folks on opposite ends of the spectrum that generally don’t agree with each other,” Merideth said. “But we agree that this as a responsible thing to do.”
Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: [email protected] Follow Missouri Independent on Facebook and Twitter.
- Nebraska medical cannabis backers file legal challenge to petition processSupporters of medical marijuana in Nebraska have launched a legal challenge to the state’s requirement that 5% of registered voters in at least 38 counties sign a petition to get the measure before voters on the ballot.
- N.J. lawmakers seek to curb cannabis useAs New Jersey nears the end of its first month of legal recreational marijuana sales, lawmakers have introduced a series of bills aimed at restricting what types of workers can use cannabis off the job.
- Missouri House votes to require disclosure of medical cannabis ownership recordsThe Missouri House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to require state regulators to disclose ownership information for businesses granted medical marijuana licenses that the state has withheld from public view.
- Nebraska medical cannabis group calls for ‘grassroots’ effort after losing donorUnable to raise $1 million to replace funds from a major donor who died, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana issued a plea Friday for supporters of the cause to take up petitions and gather signatures.
- Lawmaker says GOP resistance may doom Missouri cannabis legalizationA Republican lawmaker pushing legislation to legalize recreational marijuana in Missouri says his bill is in jeopardy because of stall tactics by his GOP colleagues and the insistence of the House floor leader that it include license caps.
- SD cannabis legalization campaign to submit signatures for NovemberToday, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, the political group that led the 2020 campaign to legalize cannabis in South Dakota, submitted petitions to place an adult-use cannabis legalization initiated measure on the November 2022 ballot.
- NH senate votes down legal cannabis bills, ending chances for 2022The New Hampshire Senate voted down two bills to legalize cannabis Thursday, likely heading off the last opportunities for legalization in the Granite State this year.
- Last Prisoner Project: Taking Real Action to Help Cannabis Prisoners“It really remains a fundamental injustice,” said Stephen Post, of America’s criminalization of cannabis. “We’re really helping to try to turn around those injustices.” Post works as a campaign manager for Last Prisoner Project (LPP), a nonprofit assisting cannabis prisoners.
- Federal attempts to legalize cannabis flail, while public support growsAcross the country, attitudes toward cannabis are becoming more permissive and accepting, but partisan gridlock in Congress virtually ensures that legislation to decriminalize marijuana will languish and die in the U.S. Senate.
- Wisconsin GOP medical cannabis bill gets 4/20 public hearingThe bill, authored by Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma), would legalize medicinal use of cannabis under specific conditions. Patients would need to be registered, and the cannabis must be in the form of a liquid, oil, pill, tincture or topical ointment.