Local doctor known for giving medical marijuana cards faces illegal drug charges
By Lauren Trager
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — A local doctor known for providing medical marijuana cards is now facing illegal drug charges.
Dr. Zinia Thomas is a licensed psychiatrist in the state of Missouri, but earlier this month, police said she was illegally in possession of a large amount of marijuana and ecstasy pills.
News 4 Investigates has met Dr. Zinia Thomas before. Her patients called her Dr. Z.
In 2019, our crew went undercover as she took her Cannibus tour to a shop in Festus. KMOV employees filled out a form and though they were never seen personally by Dr. Z, she diagnosed one of them with a debilitating psychiatric disorder, to qualify them for a medical marijuana card.
In fact, she did it for all present there that day. Now, she’s not just prescribing drugs as a doctor, she is charged with illegally possessing them.
On September 1st, a trooper says they pulled Thomas over in a black Bentley in Wayne County in southeast Missouri. They say she had 256 bottles of a cannabis cocktail. And they also claim she had been in possession of 10 capsules of a substance that tested to be ecstasy a few days before in a neighboring county.
She was booked into jail and released. Her attorney has already written in court documents that they plan to fight the charges, claiming the drugs were seized unlawfully.
We checked with the state. As of Friday, Thomas has listed a licensed practitioner without any current discipline status. She told News 4 Investigates she wasn’t making a pile of money off medical marijuana.
“No more than I did in my other practice no more,” Thomas said in a previous interview with News 4 Investigates. “Doctors make a lot of money.”
Her next court appearance is next month.
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