Retailer city’s 1st to vend Rx pot
Dispensary now 9th open in state
FAYETTEVILLE — The city’s first medical marijuana dispensary opened Saturday morning.
Acanza, at 2733 N. McConnell Ave., is Northwest Arkansas’ third open dispensary and the ninth dispensary to open in the state.
“We’re grateful that we’re able to open the doors to all these patients,” said owner Randi Hernandez. “It’s been a long process to get here, and we’re thrilled and excited to have our doors open.”
Anthony Scott, 43, of Fort Smith was one of Acanza’s first customers.
Scott stopped at the dispensary while in the area visiting a friend. He said he obtained a prescription for medical marijuana to help treat migraines.
Having a Fayetteville dispensary, he said, “is very good for me because it’s more convenient. He noted that he no longer needs to go outside the state to obtain medical marijuana. “I hope the quality is good,” he said of Acanza’s products.
Medical marijuana can benefit patients who use it responsibly, Scott said.
“It’s a good thing as long as people just use it as appropriately as they can and don’t overindulge in it,” he said.
Hernandez said that based on what other Northwest Arkansas medical marijuana dispensaries have experienced, she anticipates having plenty of customers.
“Right now the turnout is amazing already,” she said.
Hernandez said customers need to be aware of the laws governing access to medical marijuana before visiting Acanza.
Only medical marijuana cardholders or caregivers who manage the medications of patients are authorized to enter the dispensary, she said. Patients with medical marijuana cards are allowed to enter the dispensary with their children, she added.
She stressed that anyone not legally permitted to enter the dispensary will have to wait outside while patients shop.
Acanza offers marijuana in its traditional form, as well as edibles and concentrated oils, she said.
The plan is for Acanza to eventually include a cultivation site, she said. The business has about 20 employees.
Northwest Arkansas’ first dispensary, The ReLeaf Center, opened Aug. 7 in Bentonville. Another dispensary, The Source, opened Aug. 15, also in Bentonville. The ReLeaf Center and The Source were the seventh and eighth dispensaries to open in the state.
The ReLeaf Center served an estimated 287 customers on its opening day, while The Source had about 160 customers on its first day of business.
The ReLeaf Center will begin the process to become a cultivation site this winter, said the business’s superintendent Buddy Wayne.
A patient or caregiver ID card is necessary to buy medical marijuana products.
More than 22,000 people in the state had the cards as of Friday, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.
Dispensaries in Arkansas had sold more than 1,275 pounds, or about $9.1 million worth, of medical marijuana as of Friday, said Scott Hardin, spokesman at the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
PurSpirit Cannabis — formerly called Northwest Arkansas Medical Cannabis Co. or Valentine Holdings — in Fayetteville is projected to open by Nov. 1, a representative for the company said.
Acanza will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.