In my years of working in and around cannabis policy, I have never seen anything like it. State Representative David Boyer, (R) Poland, ME, is causing the “good kind” of trouble up in Maine’s State Capital. On Feb 15th, 2024 The representative has created a petition asking Maine’s Governor Janet Mills to fire the Director of Cannabis Policy, John Hudak, for the following reasons:
- Targeting and retaliating against businesses and caregivers that voice concerns in Augusta
- Referring to Hudak’s regulations, which impose a $50,000 burden on small businesses, as a “mere inconvenience.”
- The recent interpretation categorizes farmer’s markets and seshs as illegal for caregivers and patients.
- Application of adult use rules to medical caregivers
- Hudak’s ties to Freedman & Koski / METRC are of grave concern
I personally reached out to other members of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee ( which Rep. Boyer also sits on) that oversees the cannabis legislation process for comments on supporting the petition. Rep Lynne WIlliams (D) of Bar Harbor, Maine, stated, “Yes, She will be signing.”
She wanted more information on how and what other legislators will be signing the petition! But how and why did we get here? Let’s just face these facts: Office of Cannabis Policies, or “Weed Police” as I call them, are SYSTEMATICALLY BROKEN.
How can you expect ex-cops, which most departments require to work, now all of a sudden be cool with weed? Hello? IS THIS THING ON? Why, in God’s name, are we giving COPS these cannabis jobs while people are still rotting in jail for cannabis charges as I type this? That, my friend, is bullshit.
For this article, I am going to break down the last point, “Hudak’s ties to Freedman & Koski / METRC are of grave concern.” (For even more reference, you can go back to Beard Bros Media’s September 23 article.)
Here is a timeline from 2017 till 2023 that shows the ties to Freedman & Koski/Metrc: (To be transparent, I did not create this; a small caregiver did the research and created this. They are scared of retaliation from the department, to speak publicly at this time)
- 1/5/2017 – Andrew Freedman resigns as Colorado’s Director of Marijuana Coordination
- 1/5/2017 – Andrew Freedman, Lewis Koski, and John Hudak form the cannabis consultant group Freedman & Koski (see employment for Hudak here as well)
- 1/9/2017 – Lewis Koski resigns as senior director of enforcement for the Colorado Revenue Department
- 7/17/2017 – Maine DAFS & DACF posts RFI for Rule-Making for Adult-Use Marijuana Policy Implementation
- 7/31/2017 – Freedman & Koski submit RFI to Maine (Hudak is currently working with F&K)
- 10/25/2018 – Maine DAFS signs agreement with Freedman & Koski to consult for emergency legislation LD238
- 1/22/2019 – Maine DAFS signs agreement with METRC, LLC for Marijuana Inventory Control Tracking System RFP 08 1600000039-02 with contract ending in 1-31-2022 Contract is for $224,286.12
- 1/26/2019 – Maine DAFS posts RFP for Consultant Services for Rulemaking pursuant to L.D. 1719 and L.D. 1539
- 2/14/2019 – RFP for Consultant Services for Rulemaking pursuant to L.D. 1719 and L.D. 1539 awarded to Freedman & Koski
- 3/1/2019 – Lewis Koski joins METRC as COO and will become CSO (current role)
- 3/16/2019 – Maine DAFS posts RFP for Marijuana Seed-To-Sale Tracking System (METRC, LLC submits a proposal)
- 4/10/2019 – 201903049 awarded to Bio-Tech Medical Software, Inc. dba BioTrackTHC
- 12/27/2019 – DAFS announces that it is mutually terminating its contract with BioTrackTHC and announces it will sign a new deal with METRC, LLC
- 3/20/20 – DAFS renews contract with Freedman & Koski for Consultant Services for Rulemaking pursuant to L.D. 1719 and L.D. 1539
- 2/5/2020 – DAFS/OMP signs contract with METRC, LLC for a 6 year deal
- 4/1/21 – DAFS renews contract with Freedman & Koski for Consultant Services for Rulemaking pursuant to L.D. 1719 and L.D. 1539, amending contract amount
- 10/7/22 – Erik Gundersen steps down as Director OMP
- 12/2/22 – John Hudak (co-founder of Freedman & Koski) is hired as the new director of OCP
- 4/13/2023 – OCP amends contract with METRC LLC, causing a major increase in cost
- 9/6/2023 – OCP announces proposed substantive rule changes for the medical program
Payments made to Freedman & Koski, INC (sourced from Maine’s Open Checkbook Website)
FREEDMAN & KOSKI INC $122,702.38 – 2019
FREEDMAN & KOSKI INC $119,223.66 – 2020
FREEDMAN & KOSKI INC $204,398.86 – 2021
FREEDMAN & KOSKI INC $181,178.52 – 2022
I know this timeline is intense and has a ton of information to take in, but this information people need to see and connect themselves. The petition currently has almost 700 signatures after four days. This isn’t just a “Maine” thing.
Some of these policymakers that bounced around state to state like a circus are coming to town, gonna run out of popcorn real soon. Because from my eyes, there is no question who “fucked up the industry” it’s not the sprayed hemp packs, “illegal Chinese grows”, thc-a packs, or black market fam. Its the people you vote into office every 4 years, That’s how the “industry” got into this mess.
Thank god there’s no SOP for culture, imma, right???
About The Author
Derek Shirley was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of 19, he received a felony for 4 ounces of cannabis. After, he became a “cannabis nomad” living in Ohio, Arizona, and Maine, which he now calls home, and lives with his wife Sequoia and son Haze.
Being a cannabis nomad had its advantages, like relying on all markets for his medical cannabis needs which gives him a unique perspective of the cannabis markets. Currently, Derek operates People Not Parties Consulting, which helps local people and small businesses navigate their local and state governments without picking a political party specializing in protecting and preserving the small medical cannabis farmers of Maine. For fun, Derek enjoys screen printing and making cannabis memes under the pseudonym @gettinghighwithcats on IG.
