Top State Cannabis Official Damian Fagon Put On Administrative Leave Following NY Cannabis Insider Investigation
Fagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment
A high-level official at the Office of Cannabis Management was placed on administrative leave following a NY Cannabis Insider investigation about allegations of retaliation and selective enforcement on behalf of the state agency.
Damian Fagon, the OCM’s chief equity officer, was placed on leave last week, according to an agency spokesperson. The OCM has not yet issued a statement.
Fagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fagon’s departure follows a NY Cannabis Insider investigation about Jenny Argie, a Hudson Valley processor who was the subject of the first and only recall in the state.
The OCM issued the state’s first recall in December after one of Argie’s products fell 1 milligram below its advertised THC level. In paperwork filed in court last week, Argie claims the recall was retaliation for leaking audio from a conversation with Fagon.
The contents of that conversation were published in November.
After running that story, Fagon yelled, cursed and singled out Argie by name in a call with a NY Cannabis Insider reporter.
“I know it was Jenny,” Fagon said at the time.
“It’s bittersweet to receive the news that Mr. Fagon has been put on administrative leave,” Argie told NY Cannabis Insider on Sunday. “I’ve only ever asked for a fair playing field to allow small businesses, all social equity applicants and licensees the chance to innovate and shine.”
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