(KSTP) — A former employee of one of Minnesota’s newest state agencies says more than half of her team quit during a pivotal time this summer at the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), forcing medical marijuana patients to wait weeks for their medication.

The insider’s experience sheds light on the culture and working conditions at OCM as the agency took over the medical cannabis program and prepares to launch recreational sales next spring.

“We all loved our jobs. We wanted to stay,” said Kim Kraai, who started in the medical cannabis program when Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) was in charge.

The new state law moved the program – and its employees – from MDH to OCM over the summer.

“I have no idea why they didn’t just leave the medical cannabis program intact as it was,” Kraai said.

She tells 5 INVESTIGATES that she was part of a team of eight people that approved medical cannabis certifications. Up until last month, the state required patients to go through the certification process every year.

As soon as the move to OCM took place, Kraai says everything went downhill fast.

“They told us, hey, you’re coming into our house, you’re going to play by our rules,” she said. “The medical cannabis program had been up and running for quite a long time. It was working fine. We processed the applications within a day or two.” 

Dwindling Staff

Kraai said OCM management refused to honor the team’s previous remote-work schedule, and was not interested in feedback or collaboration.

She said her team of eight quickly dwindled to just three. Kraai was the last to resign in mid-August.

The staff that remained struggled to keep up with the thousands of patients who submitted paperwork to get certified for another year, leading to the backlog 5 INVESTIGATES first reported on last month. The certification process used to take a day or two.

“I just went through 26 days of not having it,” said Jason LeCuyer, who is diagnosed with HIV and was prescribed cannabis to help with pain.

This summer he was trapped in the backlog at OCM for nearly a month.

“If it has such great benefits and can help people, let’s not make them wait for it,” he said.

Kraai said she dreaded explaining to patients that her hands were tied.

“They were very distraught, oftentimes weeping, very upset,” she said. “I had heard at one point somebody saying, why are you withholding my medication?”

“Natural Attrition”

OCM declined a request for an on-camera interview. 

In a statement, Josh Collins, an agency spokesperson, said the move of the medical cannabis program from MDH to OCM “triggered an increase to the natural attrition that occurs in any organization undergoing substantial change.”

The agency previously blamed the backlog on IT issues, a busy July, and a change in state law that makes it easier to qualify for medical cannabis.

To speed up the process, OCM changed the rules so patients only need to recertify every three years instead of every year.

“They bought themselves some time,” Kraai said, adding that if they didn’t make that change they would have been in violation of state law that requires certifications be approved within 30 days.

The agency said it met that deadline for all patients. 

“The good news is that over the past several weeks OCM has added additional staff, streamlined the process for certification renewal for existing patients with technology enhancements, and processed more than 2,000 pending applications, reducing the wait time for applicants substantially,” Collins said.

Who’s in Charge?

OCM still does not have a permanent director. Charlene Briner joined the agency as interim director in the summer of 2023. The initial person hired for the job quit after one day amid controversy.

When asked for an update on the hiring process, the governor’s office told 5 INVESTIGATES that OCM has made significant progress and that Briner is the best person for the job during this critical time. 

“We have made a choice not to disrupt the work in progress by changing leadership at this time,” the statement read.

Briner told 5 INVESTIGATES back in July that she is not interested in the permanent position.

5 INVESTIGATES continues to track the progress of this new state agency in Minnesota. If you have a story idea or an issue that needs to be looked into, please reach out to Investigative Reporter Ryan Raiche at rraiche@kstp.com.