Missouri's First Weed Chief Equity Officer Is a Longtime State Employee

LEAH SHAFFER

The state had until February 6 to choose a chief equity officer.

A statewide role created to ensure an equitable roll-out of Missouri’s recreational marijuana program has been filled. 

The Department of Health and Senior Services has hired Abigail Vivas to serve as chief equity officer of Missouri’s Division of Cannabis Regulation, according to spokeswoman Lisa Cox. Vivas began her new role on February 1. 

The new job — and a February 6 hiring deadline for it — were both enshrined in the Missouri Constitution via the 2022 amendment legalizing recreational use marijuana.

Cox did not immediately respond to the RFT’s questions about Vivas’ background and qualifications for the job and Vivas could not be reached for comment. Vivas’ LinkedIn suggests a long career in state government, with more than 18 years at the Missouri Highway Patrol, where she worked as a criminalist.

The LinkedIn chronology suggests Vivas left the highway patrol in April 2022 for a job as a feed laboratory manager at the Missouri Department of Agriculture, a job she held until taking the chief equity officer position this month.

Vivas’ LinkedIn bio suggests she spent 14 of her years at the highway patrol working in a drug lab, though nothing in the bio highlights any professional interest in cannabis culture or issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Key players involved in the push for legal marijuana in Missouri were not familiar with her.

St. Louis City NAACP President Adolphus Pruitt said Thursday afternoon he had not heard Vivas’ name before, but was thankful the state had hired someone for the role. 

“I’m glad they understand that the chief equity officer needs to be in place now versus later,” Pruitt said. 

As chief equity officer, Vivas “will be an integral part of ensuring the social and economic equity requirements of the new law are fully realized,” Cox said in an email.

Before the passage of Amendment 3 in November, debate split over whether the measure adequately addressed concerns over racial and economic equity. Critics derided the measure for entrenching the system that led to few minorities receiving licenses to sell and cultivate medical marijuana. 

Now being implemented across the state, the amendment sets in motion a new microlicense program aimed at allowing people with disadvantaged backgrounds to enter the state’s marijuana industry. 

Vivas will be responsible for “communicating program equity initiatives to internal and external partners,” Cox said, as well as developing and implementing programs to inform the public of opportunities available to those eligible for microbusiness licenses.

Vivas will also certify that applicants are eligible for microbusinesses licenses and create educational programming detailing the licensing process.

Brennan England, president of the Missouri chapter of Minorities for Medical Marijuana, said he doubts the microbusiness program is actually equitable, or at least not for “the minorities that have been disproportionately affected by the ward on drugs.” 

Still, England hoped to suggest his own candidate for chief equity officer. He said he spoke to a coordinator for the microlicense program, and within days the application period had been open and closed. England didn’t have a chance to make his own referral, he said.

Last month, Missouri Independent reported the Department of Health and Senior Services had kept the position posted on the state’s job listing website for 10 days — a normal time frame for the department. 

“I would’ve liked to have known what type of candidate they were looking for, but it was up and down so fast that it was virtually inaccessible,” England said. 

The chief equity officer may only be removed “for cause,” according to the amendment.