Given Tilley’s history and sudden interest in pot, there was a sense that them that gives were going to be them that gets. Post-Dispatch reporters Nassim Benchaabane, Kurt Erickson and Jack Suntrup have made a strong effort to learn the identity of them that got. The news has been a buzzkill. How about a payday lender who was forced out of business in other states for predatory practices? He was on the board of Tilley’s organization. He got two licenses. An executive for a company that operates casinos in Latin American countries, and was sued for allegedly embezzling money from that company, got seven licenses. He, too, was on Tilley’s board.

How did this happen?

Well, standing on top of the whole process was Lyndall Fraker, the governor’s choice for director of medical marijuana. His qualifications seem vague — I’m being kind — but he seems like a nice enough fellow. He was a legislator who was about to be term-limited out. He needed a job. Maybe he thought that he was going to be in charge of a program that was going to help sick people.