County to host 2 growing sites for medical pot

So far, 2 of 5 firms have paid license fee, $500,000 bond

County will house two of Arkansas’ five future medical marijuana growing facilities, after a company over the weekend decided to locate there.

Natural State Wellness Enterprises was the only cannabis cultivation license applicant without a concrete location when the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission announced the five highest-scoring applicants last week.

The company, which submitted winning proposals for Jefferson and Jackson counties, decided over the weekend to put its facility near Pine Bluff, according to a spokesman, who cited Jefferson County’s central geographic location and economic incentives.

Officials in the four counties where cultivation facilities will operate (Jefferson, Jackson, Woodruff and Carroll) are thrilled about the coming injection of economic development.

“There’s the sales tax, absolutely,” said Caleb McMahon, economic development director at the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County. “But these jobs have an average salary of $30,000. So they aren’t just jobs. They’re good jobs.”

The Medical Marijuana Commission plans to meet March 14 to formally license the five cultivation facilities once they’ve each paid a $100,000 licensing fee and posted a $500,000 performance bond.

Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, said Monday that Natural State Medicinals Cultivation (Jefferson County) and Bold Team (Woodruff County) have paid the fee and posted bond.

If one of the successful bidders fails to pay the fee or post bond, the license would be awarded to the next highest-scoring applicant.

All five cultivation facilities plan to build growing

centers from the ground up, meaning it will be several months before cannabis plants can begin growing. It will be another several months before the plants mature enough to be harvested.

Industry insiders’ earliest projections have the drug first being issued to qualified

patients late this year; others suspect it won’t be available until 2019.

Medical marijuana commissioners have now moved on to scoring the 227 applications for 32 dispensary licenses. At next week’s meeting, they expect to set a date for the 32 highest-scoring dispensaries to be revealed.

Arkansas will become the 29th state with robust medical marijuana programs after voters legalized the drug in 2016.

Medical cannabis is expected to generate $40 million in annual retail sales and $2.4 million in state sales tax,

according to the Finance and Administration Department.

Those with one of 18 qualifying conditions can apply for a registry ID card with the Arkansas Department of Health. More than 4,250 people have already been approved for the cards, which will be issued a month before medical cannabis is available for purchase.

Patient advocacy groups plan to push for additional qualifying conditions, which can be approved by the state Health Department.

Information for this article was contributed by staff members of The Associated Press.