Missouri Medical Marijuana Program Caught FBI Agents Interest | News Infuzes
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has interviewed three main officials responsible for deploying the Missouri medical marijuana program.
Over the past few months, the FBI held a series of meetings with Missouri officials, all members of Gov. Mike Parson’s administration. The dialogue was not investigative in nature but rather motivated by the Bureau desire to get to know new leaders of a potentially profitable industry.
Last November medical marijuana was legalized in the state as a treatment of choice after the enforcement of Amendment 2. In accordance with the new law, doctors are authorized to prescribe cannabis to treat 10 different qualifying conditions, including glaucoma, epilepsy, and cancer among other devastating diseases.
First applications for such prescriptions were already accepted by the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) month ago. From now on, qualifying patients will be able to receive 4 ounces of medical marijuana per month in a presence of identification card.
Although interviews between the Missouri officials and the FBI were held in a friendly and casual atmosphere, the very fact of such an intense interest emphasizes the importance of the marijuana program issue. The illegality of cannabis at the federal level does not stop states and cities from taking measures to legalize weed for recreational or medical purposes.
Lyndall Fraker, who took the office of the director of medical marijuana program at the beginning of the year, has noted a friendly nature of the communication. Ms. Fraker also understands the FBI's desire to keep its finger on the pulse while marijuana is coming out of the shadow of illegality.
One of the interviewed officials was also Randall Williams, the director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. During the conversation with Mr. Williams FBI representatives pointed out that “it (marijuana program) can attract large sums of money, and when there are large sums of money we prone to pay attention.” Indeed, according to the official report provided by the analytics firm New Frontier Data, the sales of medical cannabis in the state are forecasted to reach $111 million a year by 2025.
Mr. Williams also noted that the agents were happy to know that the process of selection of applicants for licenses to grow, manufacture and sell pot products for medical purposes will be blindfolded. To exclude corruption, the third-party company reviewing applications won't see the names of the applicants.
An interesting fact is that such an "inspection" was carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation only in Missouri and did not take place in any of the neighboring states. Such deliberate attention can be explained by the great prospects of the state in the pot industry development.
Although weed possession in Missouri was legalized almost 5 years ago, it remains illegal on a federal level. There already were attempts in the legislative history of the state to change the marijuana situation for the better. So, during the reign of the 55th Governor Jay Nixon, the law that freed from punishment those caught with up to 10 grams was put into effect. The legislation also mitigated punishment for pot sale and cultivation.
Let's hope that the program will be successful not only in Missouri but also throughout the country. Meanwhile, we advise you to keep your finger on the pulse and follow top marijuana news together with us.