Spotlight: Lyndall Fraker leads department through rulemaking

Being the director of a medical marijuana government division tasked with creating the program from scratch on a tight deadline may not be a dream job, but it’s one a former state representative has risen to the task.

Not long ago, Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, asked Lyndall Fraker, a recently termed-out Missouri State Representative from Southwest Missouri, to consider taking the gig.

“I talked to my wife and family, thought about it, prayed about it, checked with my mentors and decided it was the thing for me to do,” Fraker told Greenway. “I was humbled and honored.”

Fraker is idyllically All-American. He and his family live in the town he grew up in: Marshfield, Missouri – a half hour drive from Springfield and a two-hour drive from Jefferson City, where his new position is located. He still attends and is active in the same church he and his wife were married in. The same church he was baptized in.

The farm he and his wife run has been in the family for over 50 years. He has grandkids – two – just down the street from where he and his wife live in town.

Marshfield itself is idyllic – it hosts the oldest Fourth of July parade west of the Mississippi. President George H.W. Bush joined the parade in 1991. A picture of Bush’s visit hangs in Fraker’s office. 
“That’s how big of a deal our little parade is,” he says, pointing to the picture of the President in a small World War II plane.

So far, this all-Missouri man has done quite the job leading a team to implement an all-Missouri medical marijuana program.

Missourians came to the polls in droves, voting for Amendment 2 more than any official or other ballot measure.

“It’s been eye-opening to the fact that it has been really well received,” Fraker said. “Missouri, surprisingly, whether the folks I talk to are civic clubs or law enforcement, are interested, concerned, on how it’s going to play out in our state.”

Fraker cited a “cultural shift” as the root cause of the reception.

“Every generation sees that kind of shift,” Fraker said, citing the changes in this country’s culture before and after the death of President John F. Kennedy, Civil Rights, Vietnam, and also the 1990s with the insurgence of the internet age. “We went from this phone,” Fraker knocked on his office phone. “- and a set of encyclopedias. What we have here -” Fraker picks up his iPhone. “- instantly with social media and how people express their opinions. Prior to that, they may write a letter to the editor.”

Maybe they re-write that letter to the editor. Maybe that letter gets mailed. From the thought to print, there may be weeks.

That cultural shift, now being the rise of cannabis in Missouri, Fraker cites as something Missourians recognize.

“Everyone is anticipating the program and how it’s laid out,” Fraker told Greenway in May. “People have been sympathetic.”

There’s a lot to be sympathetic towards. While driving more than he ever did during a political campaign visiting all corners of the state, Fraker has overseen a team drafting hundreds of rules, hosting over a dozen public hearings, and meeting non-stop tight deadlines for program implementation.

“All the agencies have been very helpful,” he said, noting support from the Highway Patrol and law enforcement. “We’re all in this together. It’s our constitution. We have to make it work.”

“We have more people who have pre-applied than we have licenses,” he said. “We want to make sure we get it right – no hanky panky.”

Fraker’s tenure has not been completely smooth. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has maintained regularly critical coverage of the program, accompanied by a lawsuit to acquire a list of those who have pre-applied for licenses. However, Fraker maintains the division will maintain privacy with that list.

“The amendment was fairly clear that personal information was not to be divulged and presented,” Fraker said. “We’re just following the Constitution.”

Fraker has taken the oath of office four times in the legislature, where he vowed to maintain and uphold the Missouri and U.S. Constitutions. Valuing the weight of the Constitution is not the only benefit Fraker has acquired from his former four terms in the legislature.

“It has been tremendously helpful to understand how things work,” Fraker said. “Statutes and laws are things that affect us in everyday life.”

Procedures and networking have also been valuable assets to Fraker. “A lot of people I’ve talked with in my 8 years here are going to be involved in the industry.”

Fraker’s time in the legislature showed him as a valuable ally to business – he also took a vote in support of medical marijuana, even though the legislature ultimately never pushed a statutorial medical marijuana program through to the finish line.

Fraker’s legislative experience is not the only experience that has been valued. His former day job was in business development and corporate management.

“In my experience, even my past experience in management for Wal-Mart has been helpful. We’re building an organization here. We’re going to have about 50 employees. My time is spent working on that piece more so than the technical content. Extremely helpful.”

Private and public experience has led Fraker to value the impact of small business – something the vast majority of medical marijuana facilities will ultimately be.

“It helps the local economies by providing jobs, whether the businesses are owned by big companies or small companies,” Fraker said. “If you do the math, we’re going to issue about 340 licenses – let’s say an average of 50 employees per license. That’s a lot of employees, a lot of individuals that this industry will support in the state of Missouri. That’s a very big positive.

“There’s a lot of interest – this is an industry of the future,” Fraker said.

Fraker has been at the forefront of dozens of department announcements regarding the implementation of the program, whether it was the announcement of blind scorers, the organization of application question advisory committees, or an increase in testing facilities.

“We want this whole industry to be treated fairly,” Fraker said. “We’re trying to bring in some general public folks to help – we feel like it’s the most fair way. The amendment was very clear that they wanted everyone to be able to be part of this business.”

The division has received incredible public input, whether in public comment or as part of the advisory committees, to build the rules and regulations that were released on May 26.

“We have a job to do,” he said. “We have to make sure the health and welfare of the citizens is protected. We have to do it within the confines of the Constitution, which is very unusual – most states it is statutory. The attitude in general is important. It’s here, it’s part of the Constitution, regardless of how you feel about the product. Keep the illegal side illegal and the legal side legal.”

Beyond Missouri, Fraker has been lent support from other states – even visiting Arizona, which has a similar population and economic makeup to Missouri.

“Our biggest help has been the knowledge from other states,” Fraker said. “That’s who we had to turn to, what states have done it well and which states have done it less well. We are trying to utilize the best practices from those who have done it well.”

Fraker’s crusade to be accessible and present continues this summer, as he will be present at the upcoming conferences put on by MoCannTrade and MCIA. His job is nowhere near over – on June 28, patients can submit their applications for care cards, those applications must be processed by the department. From August 3-17 the department will accept facility applications, then oversee a contractor who will blind score the applications, and return licenses to over 300 facilities before beginning inspections of facilities.

“We know what we’re doing and we’re listening to the people of Missouri.”

PHOTO/CHRIS SMITH

Read this story and more in the June/July 2019 edition of Greenway Magazine.