Missouri Independent/Kansas City Star: Medical marijuana firms awarded licenses by Missouri are raising money for Gov. Parson

Individuals and companies that were awarded lucrative medical marijuana licenses by Missouri will gather next week to raise money for Gov. Mike Parson.

An invitation to Tuesday’s fundraising reception was sent out to members of the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association by its executive director, Andrew Mullins. The event will be held in the home of Hamid Hamrah, who Mullins identifies in the invitation as having a medical marijuana license associated with Green Farms.

Money raised will go to Uniting Missouri, a political action committee formed in 2018 to help Parson win a full term as governor. Unlike candidate committees, Uniting Missouri is not restricted by the state’s campaign contribution caps. …

But next week’s event is raising eyebrows for another reason — the medical marijuana industry is regulated by the Parson administration and has faced scrutiny over allegations of impropriety in how licenses were handed out.

“When someone sees industry leaders are able to, not even have a seat at the table but actually pay for the table, that doesn’t speak well for how policy decisions are going to be made,” said Beth Rotman, director of money in politics and ethics for Common Cause.

Pointing to next week’s fundraiser for Parson, Rotman said things don’t have to be illegal or corrupt in order to be problematic.

“In many instances it’s clear,” she said, “to get the face time, to get the phone call returned, to get the one-on-one conversation, it requires these campaign contributions.”