Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan is in hot water, with Republican lawmakers calling for her resignation and the Democratic governor seeking investigations because Fagan took a consulting job with a marijuana firm.
The matter came to a head Friday after Fagan’s office released an audit of the state’s marijuana regulators, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. The audit called for the OLCC to “reform” some rules for marijuana businesses, saying they are “burdens” when combined with federal restrictions on interstate commerce, banking and taxation.
Fagan didn’t appear at the news conference, which included her spokesman, deputy and the audits director. News of the consultancy was first reported Thursday by Willamette Week. “This appears to be an ethics violation and if it isn’t then Oregon’s ethics laws are broken,” Senate Republican leader Tim Knopp and House Republican leader Vikki Breese-Iverson said in a joint statement.“It’s critical that Oregonians trust their government,” Kotek said in an emailed statement.
The audit also said Oregon should prepare for the U.S. government eventually legalizing marijuana and position the state, with its huge stockpiles of the drug, as a national leader in the industry. Oregon Audits Director Kip Memmott noted with a bit of envy that Canada legalized marijuana and is “a lot more proactive in looking at the benefits financially.”
Oregon’s auditors reminded the OLCC to follow its own strategic plan to position the state as a national leader by increasing the number of speaking engagements at national conferences, holding more statewide meetings and championing a nationwide framework for cannabis regulation.
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