The DEA Affidavit, Jason Vedadi, and the Questions Facing Texas Regulators
As Texas expands its Compassionate Use Program and awards additional medical cannabis licenses, the public has been assured repeatedly that applicants and their principals undergo extensive scrutiny.
That assurance is supposed to matter.
The licenses issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety are among the most valuable and tightly regulated cannabis licenses in the United States. Texans have every right to expect that regulators have thoroughly examined the backgrounds of those seeking to participate in the market.
That expectation becomes particularly important when a prominent cannabis executive connected to a Texas license award appears repeatedly in a federal Drug Enforcement Administration affidavit arising from an alleged marijuana trafficking investigation.
One such executive is Jason Vedadi.
Today, Vedadi is best known as the CEO of Story Cannabis, the multi-state operator associated with Story of Texas, one of the entities selected in Texas’ recent medical cannabis licensing expansion.
Fifteen years ago, however, his name appeared in a federal affidavit filed by DEA Special Agent Vince Sanchez in support of a seizure warrant targeting assets allegedly connected to what investigators called the “Jason Washington Drug Trafficking Organization.”
The affidavit, filed in federal court in Montana on November 15, 2011, describes an investigation by the DEA, FBI, IRS, and Montana drug task forces into what investigators believed was a large-scale marijuana cultivation and distribution enterprise operating through Montana’s medical marijuana system.
The affidavit alleges that Washington had become “a primary manufacturer/distributor of marijuana in Missoula, Montana” and that the organization had sources of supply in multiple states. It further alleges that members of the organization used various businesses and financial accounts to conceal proceeds derived from marijuana sales.
The name Touraj “Jason” Vedadi appears multiple times throughout the affidavit.
One of the most significant references appears in the section discussing Big Sky Health, a Montana medical marijuana business.
According to the affidavit, “Big Sky Health and its primary caregivers, WASHINGTON, Brent RUSSOM, and Touraj VEDADI (as listed by the State of Montana)” collectively had approximately 383 registered patients and more than 2,000 marijuana plants under Montana law.
The affidavit also recounts information allegedly obtained from a confidential source.
According to the DEA agent, a confidential source reported that Vedadi had “invested $500,000 in Big Sky Health to get the business started.”
That statement represents an allegation attributed to a confidential source and not a finding by a court.
The affidavit also references conversations allegedly involving Vedadi.
In one section, investigators describe an intercepted October 6, 2011 telephone call between Vedadi and Washington.
According to the affidavit, Vedadi asked Washington, “What’s it worth if it’s in Kalispell?”
The affidavit states that Washington replied, “To me it’s not worth anything it’s worth 23 to me.”
Investigators interpreted the exchange as a discussion regarding marijuana supply and pricing.
The affidavit concludes that investigators believed Vedadi “was offering to provide marijuana to WASHINGTON but WASHINGTON is able to obtain it from MOWER at a lower price.”
Again, that conclusion represents the DEA affiant’s interpretation contained within a warrant application. It is not a judicial finding of fact.
What makes the affidavit noteworthy in 2026 is not simply its existence.
It is the position Vedadi occupies today.
Since the period described in the affidavit, Vedadi has become one of the most successful executives in the regulated cannabis industry. He has held senior leadership positions in major cannabis enterprises and currently leads Story Cannabis, which has sought expansion into Texas through Story of Texas.
That reality creates a question that deserves an answer.
When Texas regulators evaluated the Story of Texas application, did they review the 2011 DEA affidavit?
If they did, what conclusions did they reach?
Did regulators determine that the allegations contained in the affidavit were unsupported, too remote in time to be relevant, or otherwise immaterial to the licensing process?
The public does not know. Nor has DPS publicly explained how historical allegations involving senior executives are evaluated during the licensing process.
Those questions are not accusations. They are governance questions.
No one should be presumed guilty based on allegations contained in a warrant affidavit.
Likewise, no applicant should be denied participation in a regulated market solely because his name appeared in a law-enforcement investigation fifteen years ago.
But neither should regulators be exempt from explaining how they evaluate such information when deciding who receives access to one of the most tightly controlled cannabis markets in America.
The issue is not whether Jason Vedadi committed a crime.
The issue is whether Texas regulators asked the questions that reasonable
Texans would expect them to ask.
The public has been told that suitability standards matter.
If that is true, transparency regarding how those standards are applied should matter as well.
For now, the affidavit remains a matter of public record.
So does the fact that one of the individuals named in it is connected to a company
that has now secured a place in Texas’ expanding medical cannabis marketplace.
That intersection of facts deserves scrutiny—not because it proves wrongdoing,
but because transparency is the foundation upon which public confidence in regulation must rest.
