Arkansas judge considers effort to change marijuana licenses

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An Arkansas judge says he’ll rule within the next five days on whether to allow the state to issue its first licenses for companies to grow medical marijuana.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen did not immediately rule Friday on an unsuccessful applicant’s request to prevent from the state from granting licenses to five companies. The state’s Medical Marijuana Commission had planned to issue the licenses Wednesday but Griffen issued a temporary restraining order.

Griffen heard testimony Friday from officials at Naturalis Health, LLC, which unsuccessfully applied for a license. Naturalis wants an independent evaluator to rank the 95 license applications.

The judge also heard from the head of the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Administration and an attorney for the state Department of Finance and Administration.

Voters approved medical marijuana in 2016.

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