{"id":47664,"date":"2021-05-12T05:11:34","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T13:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/05\/12\/missouri-medical-marijuana-business-ownership-info-would-be-disclosed-under-house-approved-amendment\/"},"modified":"2021-05-12T13:45:48","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T21:45:48","slug":"missouri-medical-marijuana-business-ownership-info-would-be-disclosed-under-house-approved-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/05\/12\/missouri-medical-marijuana-business-ownership-info-would-be-disclosed-under-house-approved-amendment\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri Medical Marijuana Business Ownership Info Would Be Disclosed Under House-Approved Amendment"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

The state isn\u2019t supposed to issue more than five dispensary licenses to any entity under substantially common control, ownership or management\u2014but an analysis found instances where a single entity was connected to more than five licenses.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Jason Hancock, Missouri Independent<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Missouri House voted Tuesday afternoon to require state regulators to turn over ownership information for businesses granted medical marijuana licenses to legislative oversight committees.<\/p>\n

The amendment, which was approved 82-59, was sponsored by Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis. He said the Department of Health and Senior Service\u2019s decision to deem ownership records confidential has caused problems in providing oversight of the program.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s vote came a day after analysis<\/a> by The Independent and the Missourian of the 192 dispensary licenses issued by the state found several instances where a single entity was connected to more than five dispensary licenses.<\/p>\n

According to the constitution, the state can\u2019t issue more than five dispensary licenses to any entity under substantially common control, ownership or management.<\/p>\n

But because DHSS has steadfastly withheld any ownership information about license holders from public disclosure, it\u2019s impossible to determine who owns what.<\/p>\n

The situation has bred suspicion, especially in light of more than a year of scrutiny by state lawmakers into widespread reports of irregularities in how license applications were scored and allegations of conflicts of interest within DHSS and a private company hired to score applications.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve asked the department: \u2018Are there any entities that have complex ownership structures so that someone that owns one license actually owns or has a controlling interest in a whole bunch of others?\u2019\u201d Merideth said. \u201cThe department said, \u2018nope.\u2019 We asked for records to confirm that, and the department said, \u2018nope.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He has no reason to trust the department, Merideth said, \u201cbased on how this program has been managed so far,\u201d adding later that DHSS is in \u201cdire need of accountability and transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n

His amendment would not require DHSS to make ownership information publicly available. The department would only be required to turn records over to legislative committees upon request.<\/p>\n

Joining him in support of the amendment<\/a> was Republican Rep. Jered Taylor of Republic, who is chairman of the special committee on government oversight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe department should be disclosing this information,\u201d he said, saying he\u2019d actually support going further and making the information publicly available.<\/p>\n

Taylor later added: \u201cIf we want to do our jobs correctly, we have to have the information.\u201d<\/p>\n

DHSS justifies withholding the 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 \u201cmaintain 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\u2026 .\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Shamed Dogan, R-Ballwin, said DHSS is asking lawmakers and the public to trust that they are enforcing limits on license ownership.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I as a Republican I hear \u2018trust us\u2019 from the government,\u201d he said, \u201cI usually say no. Trust but verify.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merideth\u2019s amendment was added to a Senate bill<\/a> pertaining to nonprofit organizations. The legislation now heads back to the Senate, where it can either vote to send it to the governor or request a conference committee to work out differences with the House.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Missouri Independent.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Louisiana House Approves Marijuana Decriminalization Bill As Other Reforms Advance<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The post Missouri Medical Marijuana Business Ownership Info Would Be Disclosed Under House-Approved Amendment<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n
\nRead More: Missouri Medical Marijuana Business Ownership Info Would Be Disclosed Under House-Approved Amendment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The state isn\u2019t supposed to issue more than five dispensary licenses to any entity under substantially common control, ownership or management\u2014but an analysis found instances where a single entity was connected to more than five licenses. By Jason Hancock, Missouri Independent The Missouri House voted Tuesday afternoon to require stateContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1335,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47664"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47665,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47664\/revisions\/47665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}