Auditing Cannabis
The cannabis industry has many hurdles to contend with, the least of which is its double status of being a federally illegal substance that individual states are making legal. The Beehive state is one of those that moved forward on a medical cannabis program to meet the patients’ needs.
Utah passed a voter-approved ballot initiative, Proposition 2, The Utah Medical Cannabis Act, in 2018. The following month the state legislature called a special session to replace and repeal the measure. Since then, the process of getting the program online has been challenging.
After the cultivation licenses were awarded in the Spring of 2019, speculation swirled how some companies could acquire a license with no experience. Lawsuits were filed by some, and others filed complaints with regulator bodies.
Less than a year later, in early 2020, the state auditor, John Dougall, launched an investigation after receiving whistleblowers’ complaints.
In this Salt Lake Tribune article, reporter Bethany Rodgers goes into the details of the audit.
“A sweeping state investigation into the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food under the leadership of former Commissioner Kerry Gibson has identified potential problems with the cannabis grower selection process, inappropriate use of state cars, and questionable travel practices.”
“The auditors also voiced concern about the way the agency awarded eight lucrative licenses to grow medical cannabis in the state.”
The UDAF Commissioner Logan Wilde released a statement after the audit and story went public. Many will be watching as this continues to play out in public.