University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is pictured. Members of the University of Colorado’s Board of Regents have requested an internal investigation into one of its fellow members over possible conflicts of interests in efforts to cut funding for a CU program.
The investigation, requested by regents Ken Montera and Callie Rennison, comes after fellow regent Wanda James’ objections to a campaign created by the state legislature and funded through the Colorado School of Public Health and CU Anschutz Medical Campus to educate the public on the health risks of highly concentrated marijuana.
“We know the people of Colorado expect the Board to provide excellent oversight and leadership to the University of Colorado,” Montera and Rennison said in a joint statement. “We expect that as well and are confident that this review will fairly answer questions that have been raised over the last several weeks.” Photos courtesy of Andy Colwell and Dave Vaughn University of Colorado regents Callie Rennison, left, and Ken Montera. Both regents requested an internal investigation into regent Wanda James over potential conflicts of interest. James, a Black woman and prominent owner of a Denver cannabis dispensary , took offense to a series of images created for a campaign called “The Tea on THC” released last December that she believed were racist.
The images featured information on the debilitating effects of marijuana throughout a person’s development and were accompanied by illustrations of a Black or dark-skinned person showcasing effects as they aged. She raised her concerns in January over the campaign’s content with CU leadership, who agreed that the images were insensitive.
The images were later removed and Initium Health — which created the images for the campaign — issued a statement acknowledging the concerns.
In January, James continued to comment publicly on “The Tea on THC” through multiple media outlets. Among them was a story in Denver’s Westword where she said she would like to have the campaign’s funding pulled and reallocated to grants for marijuana business owners who qualify for social equity licenses. Wanda James She was also quoted by the cannabis industry outlet Green Market Report , […]
CU regents request internal investigation for conflict of interest
