State audit confirms issues with Ohio's medical marijuana program

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WKRC) - A newly released state audit confirmed issues uncovered in a Local 12 Investigation, “Ohio’s Marijuana Mess," over the past 10 months, revealing serious issues in the how the state awarded licenses to grow medical marijuana.

“We found a mess,” Ohio Auditor Dave Yost said, summarizing the findings of his office’s eight-month probe of the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Medical Marijuana Control Program and its handling of Level I and II grow license applications and awarding lucrative licenses.

Overall, the state audit revealed a program riddled with errors and inconsistent rules, which Yost said were disturbing.

“I was appalled,” Yost answered, when asked what his initial reactions were to what his team was finding, noting he remains appalled by the lack of integrity in the process.

Among the major findings, Yost’s audit uncovered:

• Scoring errors on 15 applications. In two cases, the audit concluded that two of the errors could have disqualified companies from getting the licenses they were awarded.
• Personal information that was supposed to be kept secret during the evaluation was not removed, as required, from five applications, identifying the individuals to the graders.
• Passwords, folders and scoring sheets were not properly protected.

When DOC discovered the errors during the audit process, it tried to correct its unfairness by awarding two additional licenses, but the audit states that decision “exceeded its legal authority” by going beyond what the law allowed.

DOC disagreed with that finding, stating in a letter attached to the audit, “The courts have already upheld that the Department does have authority” to issue the additional licenses.

Yost stands by his audit, saying there is clear case law that disputes the department’s contention.

As for the rest of the findings, DOC stated “while we may not agree with every conclusion in the audit report, we have fully acknowledged that there were opportunities for improvement in the process,” noting that internal controls “have already been implemented” before the audit was published.

While the audit confirms DOC’s Medical Marijuana Control Program was a mess, Yost’s office did not uncover criminal wrongdoing, such as contract steering.

Still, Yost would not rule out the possibility.

"Well, the absence of evidence doesn't mean the thing doesn't exist,” Yost stated, adding, “It just means we didn't find any evidence of it.”