In late April, as COVID concerns intensified and the United States began to shut down, the federal government shelled out billions of dollars to untested contractors for protective masks. In one account a contractor hired by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide 6 million N95 respirators to the nation’s largest hospital system had searched for weeks but found none of the potentially life-saving masks. So, according to industry insiders the contractor reached for help, offering to cut in anyone who could help him finance, purchase, and deliver masks by his deadline. Contracts, emails, and spreadsheets shared with ProPublica detailed how domestic and foreign investors, many with marijuana industry ties, have detained the US public health disaster.
– Marijuana Moment 08/04/2020 3:30:00