In mid September, more than 300 applications were submitted to the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration by individuals and firms seeking approval to grow or dispense medical marijuana in Arkansas. The sites and dispensaries are expected to open no earlier than March 2018, but no later than June 2018. Five cultivation sites and 32 dispensaries in eight regions will open throughout the state, following voter approval of medical marijuana in November 2016.
Until dispensaries are operational, Arkansans are beginning the process to be cleared as patients, with applications for more than 1,000 having been approved.
In the final installment in a series of reports, State Senator Scott Flippo, says seeking to be approved as a patient is a process starting with local physicians who have 18 conditions from which to select as qualifying conditions.
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One month prior to the availability of medical marijuana in Arkansas, the Arkansas Department of Health will issue registry ID cards to qualified patients and caregivers.
As a member of the Senate’s Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee charged with oversight of the rules for the state’s medical marijuana program, Senator Flippo has received input on the development of the program at all levels.
Flippo, who represents Baxter, Marion and Boone counties, says he has received feedback throughout the three counties from those interested in growing and dispensing medical marijuana.
But he says those physicians he has spoken with throughout his district are generally not supportive of medical marijuana.
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Some 16 Arkansas Medical Board-licensed physicians across the state have reportedly stepped forward to certify physicians for medical marijuana as of early September.
A report from the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement released earlier this year indicates over 500,000 Arkansans would qualify for medical marijuana.
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