“Something definitely stinks in Michigan and it’s not the weed,” said Jason Beck, the longest continuous retail operator of cannabis in the United States.
Michigan voters approved Proposal One back in 2018, which came with the approval of $40 million of future tax revenue clinical trials. The FDA-approved trials would study the efficacy of cannabis in treating veterans and preventing suicide.
In a press release, veterans avocacy group Weed for Warriors claims to have documents saying the money has instead turned into a slush fund. The group alleges that one or more of the grantees fails to meet the benchmark defined in the law that requires money be awarded to “clinical trials that are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.”
The group also calls out the state of Michigan for not implementing basic accounting controls routine to the research industry.
“Voters approved Michigan’s Proposal One with crystal clear clarity on how tax revenue should be spent,” said Weed For Warriors Executive Director, Sean Kiernan. “Michigan’s current lack of standard accounting controls means there is no way to ascertain if monies have been or will be spent in accordance with the law.”
Their request? Weed for Warriors asks Governor Whitmire for “an immediate accounting of grantee spending to date, a commitment to transparency on spending going forward, and finally, a review on whether the grantee’s research qualifies as FDA approved clinical trials as outlined by the law.”
We haven’t seen any responses to the allegations but will report back on any developments.
