Arkansas reacts Last week, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded an Obama-era memo that discouraged enforcement of federal marijuana restrictions on states where cannabis has been legalized. This does not necessarily mean the budding medical marijuana industry in Arkansas, approved by a 2016 ballot initiative, will be subject to prosecution by federal officials. But unless Congress keeps… View Article 5 years ago by Cannabiz Staff Column
Applications released The Medical Marijuana Commission released 326 applications from persons seeking to be licensed as dispensaries and/or cultivators of medical marijuana last week, documents that did not identify the applicant but did provide business names, phone numbers and names of the companies’ registered agents (including Asa Hutchinson III, the son of the governor, who is representing… View Article 5 years ago by Cannabiz Staff Column
Rx card event A Medicinal Purpose, an Arkansas company established this year to provide physician evaluations for patients seeking a medical marijuana card that entitles them to legally buy and use cannabis to treat health conditions, will hold an evaluation event from 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 23 at the Holiday Inn, 10920 Financial Center Parkway. Patients seeking… View Article 5 years ago by Cannabiz Staff Column
Banker signs on for Rx accounts John Stacks, the chairman and CEO of a small Arkansas bank, last year voted against the amendment that allowed the sale of medical marijuana in Arkansas. But Stacks attributes his opposition to a “lack of knowledge” of the benefits of cannabis, and announced this week that his bank, HomeBank of Arkansas, will handle accounts from… View Article 5 years ago by Cannabiz Staff Column Laws
Growers get word Feb. 27 The five applicants who will be offered licenses by the state to cultivate medical marijuana will be announced on Feb. 27 by the state Medical Marijuana Commission. Department of Finance and Authority lawyer Joel DiPippa told the commission at its meeting last week in the Alcoholic Beverage Control conference room that the members of the… View Article 5 years ago by Cannabiz Staff Column
Decision time ahead The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission will receive 95 applications from would be medical cannabis growers Dec. 15 so they may begin scoring them, Department of Finance and Administration spokesman Scott Hardin said Monday. The DFA legal team and Alcohol Beverage Control staff members have been “depersonalizing” the applications for release to the commission, and are… View Article 5 years ago by Cannabiz Staff Column
Many Arkansas docs say no to medical marijuana Erich Laufer has cancer, but he considers himself a lucky man. He was able to get a doctor, Dr. Dane Flippin of Jonesboro, to certify for the state Department of Health that he has a medical condition that makes him eligible for medical marijuana. The $250 he was charged by the doctor wasn’t off-putting. Laufer,… View Article 5 years ago by Cannabiz Staff Column
Agent will sell insurance to growers, dealers An insurance agent in Fayetteville will offer general liability insurance and worker’s compensation for medical cannabis growers and dispensaries, he said Monday. Paul Dunn, who has operated the Paul E. Dunn Insurance agency for 24 years, said he’d researched the issue after a customer asked about a quote on crop insurance. Dunn’s brother died of… View Article 5 years ago by Cannabiz Staff Column
Benton backs med bud sales Benton voted this week to allow medical cannabis dispensaries and cultivation centers to be permitted and constructed within city limits. Ordinance 52 of 2017 allows the facilities to be built in retail areas. Under the ordinance, dispensaries and cultivators aren’t to be located close to schools, childcare centers and churches. Though the board passed the ordinance,… View Article 5 years ago by Cannabiz Staff Column
Budding beat The Arkansas Times debuts this week Cannabiz, a new column devoted to the ins and outs of the burgeoning medical marijuana industry in Arkansas. Tips? Write arktimes@arktimes.com. The map above, from the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission, shows the locations of cultivation facility and dispensary applications received by the commission broken down by zone. The zones were drawn according to population, though they may not correlate with… View Article 5 years ago by Cannabiz Staff Column