Marijuana advocate quits board, cites threats

Citing threats against him, Cincinnati attorney Chris Stock, the patient advocate for Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee, has resigned.

“I believe very strongly in public service, but there comes a point where the collective public and private threats and attacks outweigh one’s appetite for such service,” Stock wrote in his resignation letter, dated Aug. 4.

“I did this because there has been a lot of chatter about me In this role, and recently I have received several threats related to my position that I could no longer ignore,” he wrote in an email to an activist, which was shared with The Dispatch.

The nature of the threats are unclear. Stock, who was appointed in September 2019, said in an email to The Dispatch that he would let the resignation letter speak for itself, and a representative of the Ohio Board of Pharmacy did not answer questions about the threats.

Stock was a controversial choice for patient advocate. He owns a 5.6% stake in the cultivator Riviera Creek Holdings and is listed as the Youngstown company’s chief compliance officer.

He also authored a 2015 ballot measure to amend the state constitution to legalize recreational marijuana. The amendment restricted marijuana cultivation to 10 sites throughout the state, all of which were owned by the measure’s financial backers. Voters rejected the change.

While former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who appointed Stock, insisted he would be a strong proponent of patient rights, many patients and activists doubted he could separate his duties as an advocate from his business ties.

The Ohio House speaker appoints the only patient advocate on the 14-member advisory committee.

A pharmacy board representative referred questions about Stock’s replacement to current Ohio House Speaker Robert Cupp.

Taylor Jach, press secretary for the house majority, said Cupp is in the process of finding a replacement, but couldn’t say how long the search is likely to take.

Stock replaced Bob Bridges, former chairman of the Ohio Libertarians executive committee, who often peppered the state’s medical marijuana officials with questions at advisory committee meetings and had a strong social media presence, which he used to criticize those officials.

Stock, in contrast, was much more subdued. Although he answered emails from patients regarding their concerns about the program, his social media footprint was minimal.

Patients were not notified that they are temporarily without an advocate. A pharmacy board representative referred questions about the lack of an announcement to Cupp’s office. Jach promised on Friday morning to look into the matter. pcooley@dispatch.com @Patrickacooley