Sept. 19 Texarkana Gazette
No quick access
Well, Monday saw a lot of activity at the Arkansas Office of Finance and Administration in Little Rock.
That’s because it was the last day to get applications in for the state’s 32 medical marijuana dispensaries and five cultivation operations.
Until the weekend, only 52 would-be dispensary operators had submitted their paperwork, along with 19 who want to grow the stuff.
But, according to U.S. News and World Reports, as of noon Monday more than 100 new applicants had shown up at the DFA requesting paperwork. The wait was more than three hours. After the application is filled out, it must be reviewed by staff and that takes a while. Fortunately the DFA had anticipated the demand, but still it was slow going.
Now comes the next phase. DFA staff will process the applications and remove the names of companies or individuals to ensure fairness. Then the five-member Medial Marijuana Commission will go through the now anonymous applications and decide who gets to claim a piece of what no doubt will be an Acapulco — sorry, Arkansas — gold rush.
Of course, no one can say how long that will take. Each application is about 1,000 pages long.
And then? Well, the dispensaries can’t very well operate until they have something to dispense. That means the cultivation facilities must get up and growing.
Apparently the average growing season is 3 to 4 months, depending on any number of factors. Then there is testing, grading and packaging. Processing, too, if the stuff is to be made into edible products. Those Arkansans approved by the state for medical marijuana use—about 1,200 so far with more every day—will get their cards 30 days before the supply is expected in stores. By that time, we imagine the demand for the first crop will greatly exceed supply.
It’s likely many thought that voting for medical marijuana would mean quick access to the stuff. Far from it. It might be several months, maybe more than a year, before the applications are sifted, the crop is grown and dispensaries open their doors. Even then there might not be enough to go around.
There’s another hickey. The medical marijuana amendment allows cities to ban dispensaries by local option. And there are groups out there who say they are ready to begin gathering signatures to do just that. We haven’t heard of any movement in that direction locally, but there may be some places in the state where even those with a card might have to drive miles out of their way for access—sort of like those who live in dry counties and want to buy beer.
We opposed medical marijuana. Still do. We don’t think it’s a positive for the state. But we also understand that many disagree. Whatever your view, it looks like we won’t know what effect the new law will have on Arkansas for a long time to come.