The rollout of medical marijuana in Arkansas comes as its opponents are preparing new fights at the local level over the drug. The state will allow five cultivation facilities and 32 dispensaries, with the dispensaries divided equally among eight regions throughout the state. Update September 18, 10:47 a.m.: Would-be growers and distributors of Arkansas’ initial medical marijuana crop have flooded a state office building waiting for their turn to submit applications. David Couch, the attorney who spearheaded the campaign for medical marijuana legalization last year, said he expects at least 40 applications for cultivation facilities and at least 300 for dispensaries. The five-member Medical Marijuana Commission will spend the coming weeks going through the applications and scoring them based on several factors, including ability to operate the facility, qualifications and its operations plan.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas will get its first hint this week of just how large the state’s medical marijuana industry will become with hundreds of applications expected to be delivered for those wanting to grow and sell the drug. But there are still a host of challenges that remain as the state prepares to carry out a voter-approved constitutional amendment legalizing marijuana for people with certain ailments.
Monday marks the deadline for applications to be submitted to the state for dispensaries that will sell marijuana and cultivation facilities that will grow it, kicking off an arduous process for a state panel to sift through those proposals...
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